Bittersweet Revenge
by Dark Diamond
Summary: Saruman is resurrected 10 years after the original story and captures the fellowship for revenge. FELLOWSHIP TORTURE
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya! This is my first fic, so please be very nice to me! Or I'll set my hobbits on you! Lol. **

**A/N This used to be part of my story: the quota of Souls, but I really didn't like where it was going so I changed it.**

**Disclaimer- Own zilch. Nil, Nada! Nowt! Damn!**

**Summary- Saruman is resurrected and understandably wants to take control of middle earth. He begins to bring back old enemies and Gandalf is the only one that can stop him, howver he will need the help of the fellowship, plus a few friends to get into Orthanc! R+R**

Prologue: The Gift and The Curse

Saruman caressed the face of his new orc. It was the first of many, and he was delirious to see it alive, the last ones had all died. Useless ragged sections of what they were to become. The fighting Uruk Hai. He stared around the narrow tower room, his hollow eyes taking in everything, including the dark palantir balanced on the pedestal. It would not be long now before Sauron wished to check on his progress. At even just the thought Saruman shuddered. Even great wizards felt fear, and tonight he had to attempt to do something no other had been brave enough to attempt. He wished to bargain with Sauron. Wormtoungue slunk into the room clutching his candle "wretched fool" thought Saruman "he only serves me for as long as it serves his own goals. I must keep my eye on him!" Wormtongue shuffled forward. "The wild men wish to speak with you, my lord. Will you see them?" Saruman glowered at Wormtongue "I thought I told you not to disturb me! I have important business with the Dark One tonight! Tell them to wait and I will call when ready" Wormtongue simply stared at him "GO" shouted Saruman. In the face of his anger, Grima instantly complied

Suddenly the palantir began to hum, the darkness within began to swirl around and Saurons eye appeared in the centre. Saruman steeled himself. He had to do what he had to do. He strolled towards the palantir and sat. The eye seemed to regain fire as it saw him "well?" said the cruel, black voice "what have you to report to me?" Saruman had to hold on for what seemed like the passing of an age before he could open his mouth "I have the orcs as you requested my lord" he said "excellent" said Sauron "send them straight to me!"

"well, there was the small fact, of the reward I requested!" said Saruman, it took all the power of his mind merely to force the words out. The eye seemed to blaze in extra brilliance and he thought for a moment he was doomed. But then the eye began to speak some words of the black tongue and Saruman lapped it up, remembering each word.

Later, After Saruman had finished speaking with Sauron he retreated to the tower of Orthanc, he took with him only a black dagger. Unbeknownst to him Grima followed him quietly up the steps. He hid behind a pillar, and could only watch in horror as Saruman shouted words which scalded his ears, and then plunged a black knife deep into his own heart. As he collapsed Grima was to shocked to do anything other than stare, so it was that Wormtongue witnessed Saruman standing back up again and pulling the knife from his chest, which bore no sign of a wound. He had made himself immortal. Wormtongue turned and fled back down the stairs, with the sound of Sarumans manic laughter following him. "Truly" he thought to himself, as he locked himself in his bedroom "he was working for a madman!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, This is Chapter 2 of my new story and for anyone who missed it in the last chapter, this was originally part of another story that was rubbish and I totally hated so I decided to restart it and write it differently.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned it but I don't and I never will. Curses.**

Chapter 2- A Fellowship reunited

The fellowship gathered together inside Frodo's little room in Elrond's house. It had been a stressful few days so far. Ever since Saruman had returned everyone had been waiting fearfully for him to make his move. Pippin had not felt any fear like this since the War of the Ring. Each person was desperately nervous about the new task which lay before them. Attempting to sneak into Isenguard so that Gandalf could defeat Saruman did not merit what most of them could call fun. But something had to be done. Saruman had sent messengers over all the lands of Middle Earth with a one time offer to join him or to perish in the onslaught that he was about to unleash. None of them had any idea how he had survived but they all wanted the excuse to defeat him again. Of course what made it marginally more frightening was the fact that Saruman was clearly looking for them. Many spies had already been spotted in and around all their homes. This in the main had caused most of them to leave and attempt to find the others. Eventually they had all ended up at Rivendell, as each of them had passed through it at one point and found one or two of the others there until all of them were gathered. All of them had immediately agreed to help Gandalf find a way in and they were just waiting now for him to give them the word that it was time for them to leave. Their packs lay stacked up against the wall waiting to be taken up on their backs and hauled over all kinds of country. Aside from the original fellowship Faramir and Eowyn also joined them (as they had refused to allow Aragorn to leave Gondor alone.) It would be dangerous. But they were used to danger by now.

Except for Gandalf they all sat facing each other across the large table. Silence reigned. None of them wishing to break the heavy quiet that lay over them. Eventually after staring around trying to catch someone's eye Pippin grew bored and began to talk "I'm not sure I packed quite enough food." He said "I mean you never know just how much you might need. We might get delayed, or we might have to take an extra long route, or we could get attacked, or…" Legolas smiled kindly across the table at Pippin "I'm sure you have plenty of food to last you the entire trip." he said. Several of the hobbits grinned at this. There was never enough food to keep Pippin happy anywhere they went. In fact it was positively dangerous to travel anywhere with him when he was feeling underfed. His moaning would send anyone into insanity. "How long will the trip take?" asked Frodo, directing his question at anyone who cared to answer him "It's hard to say." replied Aragorn "It could really take any amount of time. I suspect that the trip to Orthanc should take a few weeks, but how long we might have to wait outside I cannot say." He looked very tired, as he and Faramir had laboured long over the last few days to gain as much information as they could on Saruman's movements while Legolas, Eowyn and Gimli had worked tirelessly to clear the area of Saruman's spies. Merry groaned "I suppose that means we get to starve then!" he said dramatically. Sam looked at him in horror, and then at his other friends waiting for them to deny what seemed to them a terrible claim. The others laughed and shrugged. Faramir reached across and handed Pippin some cheese "This could save your life sometime on the journey!" The others laughed. The mood was considerably lightened by know. They began to chat amongst themselves again. Gimli could clearly be heard trying to explain the dynamics of Dwarf women to Eowyn who was busily sniggering at his attempts, while the Hobbits happily worked their way through some food and most of the others began to converse about some of the practicalities of the Quest. All too soon Gandalf burst back into the room "It's time." He said to the room at large "The time has come for us to say farewell to the hospitality of Elrond and begin our long journey." Everyone's faces were grim but they stood and picked up their gear and the small group set off another trip to try and save the world.

A couple of hours later they all stood miserably in the rain seriously regretting their decision to take this trip. They had walked until they were exhausted and Merry and Sam in particular were wishing that they had kept themselves in shape over the past few years. The struggled on together at the back making excuses for their laziness "well you see..." said Sam "It's just so tough with my wife and the little-un, you know how difficult it can be to get time to yourself"

"I know exactly what you mean Sam; I just have so many relatives that I do a good amount of exercise anyway walking between their houses." Replied Merry earnestly. They went on like this for a very long time. At the front Legolas, Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli were discussing Saruman "How exactly did you find out Gandalf?" asked Aragorn

"Any of the Istari can sense the rising of a great power at any time, It was without reason that one day as I was riding I felt a terrible force coming into being, even the birds and the beasts felt it. However I was unaware of what had created the tremor. I had to begin to search further. I went to Radagast the Brown to ask of his help. He has skills with the birds. He to had felt the tremor so he sent his friends to see if they could discover the source. I waited many days until many of his friends returned and they told us of Saruman's return and of the fact that he was preparing to search desperately for a small group called The Fellowship. Of course then I knew." The others made various nods or noises of understanding and the group plodded along.

They had been on the move for many days and they were travelling at night when a loud howl sounded out of the darkness "Wargs." Said Gandalf "I had feared it would be so."

"Do you think Saruman sent them?" asked Frodo.

"I can only assume so, and there must be Orcs with them as Wargs never travel alone." The poor Hobbits shivered with fear and the company began to move as fast as they possibly could. They ran quickly towards the start of a small slope, so as they could at least have a place that was defensible. "Move!" cried Aragorn as the Wargs drew closer. The cries sounded louder. As they ran Sam, who was at the back of the line felt hot breath on his heels. He yelled and kicked backwards. A yowl told him he had hit his target. They continued on. If they could just reach the start of the slope they would have a place to defend. Near the bottom of the incline Merry tripped and fell. He cried out as he landed awkwardly on his leg. Merry tried to stand, but his leg couldn't take his weight and he fell back down again. Aragorn, Legolas and Faramir turned around and ran to fight off the Wargs that were now converging on him. They charged towards the Wargs, each using their own weapons. Legolas felled many of them with his swiftest arrows while Aragorn and Faramir slashed left and right with their swords. Many Wargs fell to the ground, their death cries echoing through the darkness. Gimli ran into the fray and helped Merry to his feet, ignoring his cry of pain as his injured leg was jarred. Fear gave them the final burst of energy they needed to make the slope. The group gathered around Merry and prepared to fight. An Orc horn sounded through the night. They were surrounded. They each drew their weapons and stood waiting. But the Wargs began to withdraw. As the last of them left it sounded a final howl and disappeared. Something heavy was thrown at them from an unseen Orc. It clattered to the ground inches from Frodo's toe and lay there. Hesitantly Pippin picked it up. It was an Orc helmet. A helmet bearing the White Hand. They simply stared at it for a long while before Gandalf moved "Come." He said "They are watching us." The little group headed of together, desperately hoping for somewhere to call safety for the night.

**I just want to give a special shout out to Janeyboy who has reviewed every one of my chapters and helps me to carry on with the story day to day.**

**Go on Review. You know you want to! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, here's chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I own it! Looks slowly around at angry mob all right then I don't. Happy?**

Chapter 3- They are Coming

The fellowship had travelled long and hard over great distances. It had been an eventful journey, what with the Orcs and Wargs stalking them at every turn and there had been several minor scuffles with them that, though they would instantly deny it was slowly wearing them down. None of them were at their best and Gandalf was beginning to worry about how they would cope with the next one. He was also deeply concerned about how the number of Orcs seemed to grow with each fight. Frowning he surveyed the other members of the group. There were the four Hobbits struggling on near the back each helping each other on, with Sam (who had received a bump on the head in the last battle and still seemed quite muddled) being supported by Merry and Frodo. His eyes travelled behind them to Legolas, who out of pure habit was acting as rear guard. He was limping badly although he was trying very hard to hide it. He had sighted Aragorn trying to talk to him, clearly encouraging him to let him take a look but the stubborn Elf always refused. With this thought his mind wandered to Aragorn and Faramir who were deep in what looked to be a serious conversation most likely about the quest and Eowyn quietly suffering from exhaustion behind them. Lastly Gimli stomped on stoutly behind him. His eyes never leaving the dirt of the path, and never belying his tiredness by engaging in conversation. Gandalf decided on the spot. It was time for a rest.

Later as he watched the others enjoying the reprieve he was pleased by his decision to rest, but he knew there was more still to do. He looked around. Merry and Pippin seemed fine, they were whispering between themselves unaware that Gandalf could hear them "I say we go for Faramir- Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are too used to us and I spent a long time in Rohan with Eowyn so she knows too."

"But what about Gandalf?"

"Are you joking Pippin, Gandalf would have our heads!" Gandalf slowly snuck up behind the arguing pair who unsuspecting continued talking "I mean, we don't really need a bigger blanket that much…" said Merry

"Are you getting scared Merry?" teased Pippin "scared of stealing a blanket?"

"Indeed you should be!" said a voice loudly behind them. Gandalf had deemed it a good moment to show his presence. Both Hobbits jumped about a foot into the air "Gandalf!" they cried in unison "When did you get there?" gasped Merry

"I thought what you were saying seemed most suspicious and felt that an investigation was in order. It seems I was right."

"Guess you caught us then." Said Pippin with a weak smile in Gandalf's direction. Chuckling Gandalf walked away from them and made his way over to Aragorn and Legolas. It seemed that Legolas had finally given in to Aragorn's nagging and had agreed to let him examine his leg. "It seems you will live my friend." Said Aragorn cheerfully, while Legolas glowered at him the examination had clearly been rather painful "Just be careful though" he said in a more serious tone "If you put to much pressure on the ankle the bone will snap."

"It will be fine Aragorn." Legolas stated wearily. There was no doubt left by his tone that he was sick of hearing about his leg. Almost as if he was psychic Gimli came wandering over just in time to witness the Elf's bad mood. "aw, has the poor Elfie got a little ouchie?" he baited, Legolas in his present mood easily took the bait "The little dwarfie will have a very big ouchie if he doesn't shut up!" he snapped. Gandalf left them to bicker. Eowyn was beckoning to him from the shade of the tree's. He walked over to her as quickly as possible "What troubles you Eowyn?" he asked kindly "I fear for the survival of this quest." She said, lines of worry covering her face "More and more Orcs come against us each day, we are becoming exhausted Gandalf. I know not if the Hobbits can continue on like this. Also how are we to get into Orthanc? Saruman will surely have all the entrances watched." Eowyn spoke as if desperate to get all that had been troubling her off her chest. Gandalf looked at her sadly "I have no clear way to answer your question Eowyn. Indeed there is not much I can say to sway your fears, truly I do not know entirely how we shall gain access to the tower but I trust in all of us that when we are there a solution will present itself. As to the Hobbits they are made of much sterner stuff than one might think. Put your faith in yourself and in all of us and we shall not fail." Eowyn nodded reassured and wandered off to find her husband. Gandalf thought to himself. Everyone was putting all that they had into getting to Orthanc, these people had already sacrificed pieces of themselves to save Middle Earth one before, but here they were once again. Gandalf felt truly lucky to have them with him. His mind drifted to Frodo. Frodo had suffered most of all during the last quest, yet here was the tough little Hobbit back with them once again. Prepared to risk himself for Middle Earth again. He sadly looked about him. It was time for them to move on once again.

The Fellowship trekked through the dark, green forest with Gandalf leading the way and Legolas once more watching their backs. Frodo shivered. This forest reminded him of the Old Forest, where the Old Man Willow had caught he and his fellow Hobbits. The air seemed heavy and silence reigned over them. He looked over at Gimli who seemed to be doing remarkably well considering his dislike for trees and forests. Then his mind was drawn back to the fact that Legolas and Gimli had journeyed together through caves and forests. Each had overcome fears on that trip. Unexpectedly they emerged into a clearing. A strange sensation of being watched overtook Frodo. He looked at Sam, who nodded. He felt it to. The silence became oppressive. No birds sang and no small creatures rustled in the ground. It seemed a dead place. They all felt it. The Fellowship came to a sharp halt in the centre of the clearing "Something is wrong!" said Faramir, his voice barely heard. The men drew their swords and the Hobbits followed the suits Legolas lent against a tree and began to fit an arrow to his bow. There was a whistling noise and thousands of arrows came out of the trees they had been ambushed. There was a cry from behind them. Legolas had been hit. A long black Orckish arrow had pierced deep within his shoulder and protruded out the other side, pinning him to the tree. They began to move towards him. But the Orcs choose this moment to attack. Out of the trees they streamed, around a hundred of them. With some of them even riding upon Wargs. The battle commenced.

Frodo moved close to Sam and drew Sting while the others tried to surround them, but there was just too many Orcs. Arrows whistled back and forth and swords swept left and right, still the Hobbits remained safe in the centre. Then Aragorn fell to his knees with dark blood blossoming from his head and the protection was gone. Frodo saw Merry and Pippin working together to cut of the hands and arms of the Orcs, while he and Sam did the same. He saw some members trying to make their way towards Legolas who was still pinned to the tree and being advanced upon by many enemies. Then Frodo lost sight of them as he paid attention to staying alive. Duck, parry, riposte, move, lunge, thrust, they had been taught well. He was killing of any Orc that attacked him. But he was surrounded. He was swept away from Sam. He heard him frantically calling his name, but before he could turn a large Orc had grabbed him round the middle and thrown him to another who wrenched his hands behind his back and tied them tightly. He tried to call out before a gag was stuffed in his mouth, and all he could do was watch.

Sam blundered around desperately trying to be of some help during the battle. He did all he could to protect Frodo, reverting from the sword to his preferred weapon of a pan. He looked around. Frodo was gone. He desperately scanned for him. There. He was fighting strongly against a group of Orcs, but a huge one leered up behind him and made to grab him. A group of fighting people moved into his way and when they moved Frodo was gone. Sam cried out and began to move. Gandalf's voice suddenly rang out above the din "Retreat!" it called. Sam could not retreat. Not without Frodo. A hand gripped his shirt "Move Sam lad!" it was Gimli, he carried something in his arms. Gimli pulled him into the forest with Sam struggling all the way to return to Frodo.

Eowyn fought hard, trying to keep an eye on her husband at the same time as killing the Orcs was no easy task. Gradually she began to lose sight of the others. Only when she was a good distance away did she realise the Orcs true intentions. They had intended to lead her away. The attack stopped. Slowly she looked around. She was surrounded. Five large Uruks and two Wargs when pacing round her. She moved into a fighting stance ready to take on anything. The first Orc attacked, she slashed upwards and jumped out of its way as it fell. Right into the path of the first Warg. It bit down hard upon her arm. As she cried out in pain an Orc jammed a dagger deep, deep into her stomach. She collapsed and they ran back to aid their fellows

Gimli hit out at every Orc that came near him, neatly knocking several Orcs out of his way as he charged towards Legolas. The Elf was surrounded, but somehow still seemed to be holding them back. He couldn't keep it up for long however as even while he fought the colour was draining from his face and he was getting paler and paler. Gimli was stopped in his tracks as Gandalf called to him "Gimli! Help Eowyn! She was felled by the Uruks. Take her and as many of the others as you can! We are outnumbered! Flee to the forests!" he immediately complied and grabbed Eowyn and began to drag Sam (who was nearest) behind him.

Aragorn fought hard to keep the line intact. The Orcs clearly sensed that he was a key to the line and began to converge upon him. He briefly looked up and saw Gimli running to assist Legolas. The poor Elf was still stuck to the tree. That one moment was his downfall and Orc took the opportunity and hit him full in the face with his mace and he knew no more.

Merry and Pippin worked together as always to defeat their attackers. After the line had broken there had been an onslaught that they had fought with all their might. Chopping of anything they could reach on the Orcs. There were just too many of them. Eventually the pair of them found their weapons wrenched from their grasp and they met the same fate as Frodo.

Faramir worked his sword, although he was a fair fighter he hated fighting of any kind. Still sometimes necessity called upon one to do what they would rather not. He hit out at the Orcs all around him. It was his brother who had taught him to fight so well. He missed Boromir every time he held the sword, but now was not the time. His heart froze in his chest as Aragorn fell beside him and the group broke up. It would be near impossible to protect the Hobbits now. Then a terrible blow seemed to strike his heart. Eowyn. She was hurt he was sure of it and badly. He felled three more Orcs but the pain intensified. He tried to swing the sword but exhaustion gripped him. He fell to his knees. The Orcs converged. They fought the sword and the rest of his weapons from the still tight grip. His hands were tied tightly behind his back. He was held tightly by the Orcs as if he had the power to run.

Legolas grimaced as he reached up his hand to remove the arrow. The pain was intense. He tried to remove it and failed. He made another attempt and the trees swam before his eyes. He looked around for help but the others were all preoccupied by the Orcs. Out of nowhere a large group came towards him. He reached and grabbed one of his knives. The brute stabbed at his stomach but Legolas only had the power to parry the blow. He had no strength to make an attack of his own though. Gimli was coming towards him but he swerved away at the last moment "excellent." Thought Legolas "Just me and the Orcs then!" he kept trying to fight but the last of his energy was draining away. The world swam once more and this time it did not stop until he fell into blissful blackness.

Gandalf did all he could during the great fight. He feared for the others, but for Legolas especially. The Elf was not in a good position to fight while he had an arrow through his shoulder. Gandalf blasted many Orcs with his staff and waited for it to end but no matter how many he hit still more came towards them. The grim realisation hit him. They could not win this fight. He glanced around. Eowyn fell with a knife in her stomach. Gandalf needed to stay until last so he hunted for someone to help. Gimli seemed relatively unscathed so he called to him to get Eowyn and any others out. They fled into the forest. Suddenly the Orcs drew back. Most of the Fellowship (save Gimli Eowyn and Sam) were being held by the Orcs. Gandalf lowered his staff slightly. There was nothing to be gained here by fighting. The Orcs began to part. Someone was coming between them. A pale man with long dark hair and large cold eyes moved to the front. Gandalf raised his eyebrows "Hello Grima." He stated shortly. Wormtongue smiled slowly "Lathspell, It has been to long." The look of intense pleasure that he had about their predicament was almost to much to bear. "I have been commissioned to give you this message: Although you have the ability to save yourself Stormcrow any attempt to escape will result only in your friend's pain." Gandalf's beard twitched. He desperately wished to harm this man as he had not wished to do for many a year. As if to prove his point Grima moved towards Legolas. Legolas was unconscious, still stuck to the tree with blood dripping from the wound and his lips were blue tinged. Grima unsheathed a dagger from somewhere within his robes. He held it a Legolas' white throat. The remaining conscious members of the Fellowship began to struggle wildly. "What do you think Gandalf?" asked Grima softly "Will you lay down your staff to save a friend?" he pressed the dagger harder and a single bead of blood ran down Legolas' neck. Pippin uttered a muffled scream through his gag. "Gandalf looked at him calmly "You will not kill Legolas Grima."

"and what makes you think that, Grey Fool?"

"You clearly want all of us. Why would you kill one and risk Saruman's wrath?" Grima glared " I may not be able to kill him but I am still able to put him in a considerable amount of pain. I have the power to bring him, or any of them to the brink of death and back again. Make your choice Gandalf. I tire of your mind games." Another red line rolled from beneath the dagger. He gently placed his staff on the ground and quietly allowed himself to be tied up. The Orcs either pulled the others onto their shoulders or hauled them to their feet. One went over to Legolas and rather than remove the arrow he simply took the arrow out of the tree. The group began to move off. Gimli and Sam deep within the forest began to wander about the fate of their companions.

**Come on guys, No reviews so far, be nice. Please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey people! I'm liking this so far. Here's Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: If I owned this then I would be dead and buried, and strangely enough I'm not**

Chapter 4

Pippin slowly opened his eyes. He was disgruntled to find himself being carried by an Orc once again. He closed his eyes tightly and then cracked one open "Give it up Pip!" said a voice to his left. Pippin opened his eyes properly and looked over at Merry "You don't know! I could be dreaming!" he said hopefully. Merry glared at him "You've been trying to wake up for the last half an hour; I really don't think it's going to happen Pippin." Pippin nodded shortly to acknowledge that he was giving up and opened his eyes properly. Merry shuffled as much as he could with his hands tied "Can you see any of the others?"

"Frodo is a little ahead being carried in the same manner as us and Aragorn is running about four rows ahead. Merry! He is bleeding!"

"There is nothing that can be done now but wait until we stop. Faramir is with him anyway. I can see them from a slightly different angle. Faramir seems relatively unharmed." Replied Merry.

"What do we do now?" asked Pippin fearfully

"Wait." Said Merry, the weight of worry for those they could not see lying heavily on his heart.

A long time later when it seemed that they had ran for days they paused outside a dank, damp cave. The captives were thrust inside and left alone (though the entrance was closely guarded. Faramir sat sadly in a corner. He deeply felt the loss of Eowyn. There was no knowing what had happened to her. All he had felt was a terrible chill deep inside his chest which had not lessened over time. He glanced around the cave. There was work needing done here with his friends however and wallowing would do him no good. Besides, one of them might have seen Eowyn. With a new purpose in mind he stood up and strode over to Gandalf who was deep in conversation with Aragorn. "What news have you my friends?" he asked softly, startling them with his presence. "What news would you ask of us Faramir, we know no more than you do. There are many questions we would also have answered but cannot." Said Gandalf gently

"Where is Legolas?" he asked curiously. He had not seen the Elf since the battle, when he had been pinned to the tree. Almost on cue there was a scuffling noise from the outside and two or three Orcs threw something inside. They ran to the door. It was Legolas. He was conscious, but barely. The arrow still remained deep within his shoulder. His blue eyes were glazed. The Hobbits had come over fearfully "what can you do?" said Frodo fearfully, his large eyes trained on the Elf. Aragorn looked at him sadly "There is little I can do as I have no tools or anything to staunch the wound with." The Hobbits looked at him in horror "You can't just leave him like that!" gasped Pippin

"Would you like to go and request that the Orcs give you some bandages then?" snapped Gandalf. Pippin closed his mouth with a snap. Suddenly Legolas opened his eyes. Immediately Aragorn was at his side. He helped him to lean against the wall "Are you alright Legolas?" he asked fearfully. Legolas gave him a grumpy look "No." he said childishly. "How is it that you are awake?" pressed Aragorn.

"The Orcs gave me some of their disgusting formula" he said "but they deign to remove the arrow." Gandalf sighed "as is their way."

They were left in the cave all day, though they did not know it as the light never entered into that festering hole that Orcs had used as a hideout for thousands of years. When the night came the Orcs came with it. A large ugly Orc came in first and stood at the centre of the floor, the only place where he could stand up straight. "Move it!" he shouted in thickly accented common tongue. When none of the Fellowship shifted a group of others almost as big as the first strode in and yanked them to their feet. "Fools, you should know that you will be punished for any defiance." As soon as they were all standing he produced a whip. They felt the lash begin to lick at their backs "Go!" he said. The Fellowship had no choice but to allow themselves to be herded onwards like cattle. Legolas stumbled and nearly fell, but both Aragorn and Faramir grabbed an arm and stopped his descent "I'm fine!" he said, embarrassed and lurched forwards before falling down hard. One of the bigger Orcs came over to them. He took a contemptuous look at the Elf lying in the mud "Get up!" he growled menacingly

"I can't." said Legolas shortly. The Orc bent down and grabbed his hair "I think you can." He raised the whip. "Dashnak!" a voice shouted loudly, the Orc captain had caught up with them "The prisoners are not to be disciplined before arrival! Those are our orders." Dashnak lowered the whip with a look of pure hatred upon his face. The other Orc watched him "Move back to your place maggot!" he shouted. Dashnak complied muttering disgustedly. The captain grabbed Legolas' arm "and as for you, Saruman will deal with you later!" he pushed Legolas back towards the others and Gandalf grabbed onto him. They all moved off as fast as they could and all too soon the harsh pinnacle of Orthanc rent the sky.

The group were moved through the dark tunnels of the Tower. Evermore towards Saruman and whatever his cruel plans were. Eventually they were thrust through a large door to land hard on the marble floor. One by one they looked up to see Saruman's face looking down sneeringly upon them. "Bind their hands." He said his voice echoing throughout the hall. The Orcs hastily complied. When the entire group sat before them with their hands tightly bound behind their backs Saruman looked at each of them in turn. A slow smile spread across his lips. "Well, after all these years, the Fellowship of the Ring within my grasp" his eyes roved around them. Suddenly they fell upon Faramir "What are you doing here?!" Faramir glowered at him

"Well the thing is I'm not exactly here by choice!" he snapped. Saruman looked around at the Orcs "I thought I told you to bring me only the Fellowship!" Dashnak stepped forward "We thought he was of the Fellowship, four Hobbits, the Wizard, two men an Elf and a Dwarf!" Saruman was clearly disgusted, he looked at Faramir "I suppose he will have to do, perhaps this is the best way to gain my revenge upon Boromir." Faramir's eyes, normally so kind were filled with a deep penetrating hatred. Gandalf spoke up "Saruman, how comes this that you have returned to this Earth?"

"Does Gandalf the Grey not have some pathetic theory out of his infinite wisdom then?" replied Saruman. Gandalf remained silent "Clearly not. I was given immortality as a gift by the Lord Sauron in return for" he paused "services." He turned his back on Gandalf and continued down the line. "Frodo Baggins." He said to the Hobbit "I see that you are still running about on your smug little feet, trying to pretend to save the world? There will be no saving it this time." Frodo simply stared at him until Saruman walked along to Merry and Pippin. He didn't even stop at them, but glared at them as if the memory of his defeat in their hands still weighed heavy upon him. He went to Aragorn "and here is the ranger king of Gondor, will not your wretched little kingdom be destroyed without your royal judgement?" Saruman spoke with ten years worth of bitterness, but Aragorn came out of character and spat at Saruman, who quickly turned around and backhanded Aragorn across the face. Aragorn's head snapped back and he almost cried out as his neck was jarred. Saruman smiled at him and moved on to Legolas. "If you truly are now immortal you are wasting it upon this foolishness!" said Legolas. Saruman looked at him "You foolish little princeling! You think you know something of immortality? You have no clue as to what immortality is. Do you think immortality is just a simple gift?" here he backed away so he could talk to the whole group "none of you have any idea as to how immortality was truly gained. About the fierce battles and desperate stands?" he smirked "I suppose you do not know that at first immortality was never contained inside humans. It is a force in itself and not inexhaustible, at least it was. Then it was discovered along with the secret of how to channel it. Of course the source began to become used up and no one knew how to replenish it. There began to be battles over he last areas with the power. Man could have become immortal, but they fought amongst themselves like fools and left the Elves to march in and take it."

"The Elves would never do this! You lie!" cried Legolas

"If you cannot believe the truth then that is your trouble. Anyway eventually the Elves looked back and realised what they had done. They left the Power behind, but it was too late. It was now ingrained within them."

"Why are you telling us this?" asked Aragorn

"You will understand. There are three levels of immortality. The first is the level of the common Elf who will just keep on living but can be killed, then there is my level which is to never die. I will not die unless there is not a single ash of my body left. But to defeat all of this there is the level of God. To become a God sacrifices must be made. Powerful sacrifices."

"So that is what you wish Saruman." Said Gandalf "You wish to seize revenge of us and then sacrifice us for yourself. You are a fool Saruman." Saruman's face darkened deeply. He turned to the Orc captain "Take them away! To the special cell that we prepared." As the Orcs converged they struggled hard but were overpowered and dragged off through the door into the darkness.

**Special thank you to my wonderful reviewers!**

**Janeyboy**

**Elithraniel**

**By the way I'm not going to be updating for a little while as I'm taking part in National Novel Writing Month. If you are interested in maybe trying it go to:**

** next chapter**


	5. Chapter 5

**Um, hello… Yeah about that wait thing well sorry about that. Nanowrimo kind of took over and then I had prelims and December induced craziness and… well lets just leave it at that! Here's my new chapter! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I did, I really truly do, but the Fellowship says I don't and I must listen to them. Darn.**

Chapter 5

The fellowship was dragged off down the dark hall, all of them struggling wildly. The long dark corridor loomed out in front of them and there was no answer as to where they were going to end up after their little trek. Aragorn struggled worst as he was heaved down the hall; he was offering the most resistance of any of the others. He was supposed to be a king. He was not meant to be thrown about like a piece of rubbish! Also he wished desperately to make it back to his wife and son. He had not expected death in this small trip and he would not give in to it so easily. He turned round in the Orcs grip and kicked it hard. The Orc grimaced and let go while Aragorn rolled away from where he had been dropped and leapt to his feet. The Orc paced towards him angrily, furious at being outsmarted. Aragorn could have run then. He might have had a chance at escape, but in that moment he paused and looked back at his friends, unsure whether or not to go. In that short pause three Orcs tackled him to the ground. He cried out as he landed hard upon the cold floor. The Orcs tried to restrain him but he was fighting like a caged animal. The short fight soon ended however when a large burly Orc strolled straight up to Aragorn and kicked him hard in the chest, the King stopped to regain his breath and at that point his arms were wrenched behind his back and the guard was multiplied.

They were pulled roughly into a dark, dank little cell. They glanced around as they were thrust inside. It was a round room with no windows and only one door and round the walls there were several sets of chains, some at man height and others at Hobbit height. Saruman's special cell it seemed. Faramir found himself dragged to the first one where his hands were locked into the chains. He struggled weakly but his fears for Eowyn sat deep, so deep that he could not care for himself or his predicament. The others swiftly met the same fate, with Faramir at one side of the door right round to Frodo at the other end. They had obviously been positioned so that they could all see each other "Or what damage is being inflicted upon each other" thought Gandalf darkly. He had been positioned right in the middle. Merry and Pippin shouted furiously and tried to scream at Saruman although it was unlikely he could hear them. But their shouting and struggling made no difference. The Orcs left them and the door was shut. They heard the sound of a lock clicking as the door closed and the Fellowship were left in darkness.

They stayed in there in silence for a long while, each of them absorbed in his own thoughts. Soon Pippin could bear the silence no more "I'm hungry!" was all the others heard. They were shocked out of their thoughts as they had all been thinking about the seriousness of the situation. But as he spoke they all remembered their own hunger. Merry and Frodo outright glared at him while the men tried to hide their irritation. Faramir schooled his expression into a reasonable one and smiled at Pippin "I do not expect that Saruman will be deigning to give us food anytime soon." He said, trying hard to make light of a dark situation.

"We must discuss what we are to do!" said Aragorn "We have to get out of this hell hole, but I can see no method of doing so. Can you Gandalf?" Gandalf sighed; he had remained silent thus far on purpose. The reason was that he had no answers. He wished to tell them that everything would be alright but he could not think of anything to say to them that would not dampen their spirits any farther than they already were. Eventually when they were all staring at him he realised he would have to speak "At least Gimli, Sam and Eowyn are alright for now." Mentally he kicked himself for adding "for now" as Faramir's face just looked saddened at the thought of his beloved in pain. No on spoke after that and they simply stared into space until the door banged open. Saruman stood in the doorway framed in light. "How are we feeling my friends? Rested?" none of them made any answer save to glower at him, with a deep penetrating hatred in their eyes. He paced over to Legolas who had been silent for the past while and was slumped in his manacles and tapped at the embedded arrow lightly with his long pointed finger causing the Elf to wince. Saruman laughed softly "Do not try to defy me Elf, I shall need your immortality for my sacrifice and you _will _go along with it." Legolas raised his head and gazed at Saruman stubbornly

"I will do nothing for you. You are a destroyed soul trying to claw your way back up through evil means. Do as you will Saruman. None of us shall give in to you." Legolas spoke all this in a tone that seethed with barely held back anger. Saruman laughed again and swept his hand back in a spell casting stance. He turned away from Legolas to face Merry. Everyone gasped as the chains holding Merry disappeared and he was thrown harshly into the wall. He cried out in pain and fear as he saw the ground metres away through his woolly toes. Saruman waved his staff and Merry followed it through the air until he was in the centre of the room, above all the others. Chains clanked as the others desperately tried to somehow break free and help Merry. Gandalf's eyes were dark with worry. He stood still watching Saruman knowing there was nothing he could do. Merry squeaked fearfully and tried to fight the force holding him. Pippin began to scream out of fear for his cousin's life. Moments from their childhood passed before his eyes. He could not loose Merry. Not like this. Merry's cries peaked as his body jerked in the air. Saruman almost lazily waved his staff about, uncaring about the agony he was causing. Merry began to jerk and twist uncontrollably in the air. Frodo closed his eyes in misery, unable to watch the exhibition of pain in front of him. Pippin found himself unable to deal with it anymore and screamed loudly. He kicked out with his short legs and tried desperately to lash out at the Orcs and Saruman, neither of whom he could reach. Out of pure luck he managed to just reach one as he swung round at the end of his chains. The huge Orc roared and spun around. It whipped out its club and hit him hard on the head. There was a sickening crack before Pippin swung back slowly and was silent. Saruman looked around at the assembled while still holding his staff in the air "Perhaps you would be willing to tell me where the others are?" he asked them slowly. They looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Should they tell Saruman what they knew to save Merry's life? Unconsciously they all looked to Gandalf again "The price of being a leader" thought Gandalf sadly to himself. Saruman glanced around at the silent group. Angrily he released his hold on Merry. The Hobbit plummeted down towards the ground and Frodo cried out loudly. Saruman caught Merry seconds before he hit the ground and simply dropped him there. He waved a long hand at the Orcs and they returned the poor Hobbit to his bonds. He glared at the assembled group "If you are unwilling to tell me I shall just have to find them myself and I swear to you now that you will regret this disobedience!" with that he turned and walked out of the room, the sound of his heavy boots could be heard going down the corridor.

They all slumped backwards with relief. Pippin gingerly lifted his head and groaned about his headache. Merry was whiter than a sheet, but colour gradually began to come back into his cheeks as the ordeal seemed farther away. Unexpectedly the chains holding them disappeared. The door slipped open a crack and an Orc slid in a bowl of water, clearly meant to do for the entire group. Aragorn rushed over to help Legolas as the Elf fell towards the ground without the support of he shackles around his wrists. The wound was now fully taking its toll on him and his face was sickly pale. Aragorn lowered him gently to the ground, the Elf was so exhausted he made no protests and simply remained there. "We have to take out the arrow Gandalf!" said Aragorn desperately. It would be dangerous without the tools but Legolas would most definitely die otherwise. Gandalf nodded stoically, and so, to Aragorn's surprise, did Faramir

"If we rip it out we could cause even more damage." Said Faramir shortly

"I know" said Gandalf "It will be more painful but we shall have to do it slower." The Hobbits were watching this talk with interest. Finally Frodo spoke up for them

"We would like to do anything we can to assist." Aragorn was about to tell them that there was nothing they could do, but he looked at their scared little faces and realised that they needed to help in some manner

"What I need you to do is rip some of the materiel from my cloak into long thin strips that we can use as bandages and then soak the in the water." The Hobbits nodded and set to work enthusiastically, glad to have something to do. The other three knelt by Legolas' side. Faramir gripped his shoulders hard and held him to the ground. Most unfortunately Legolas chose this particular moment to open his eyes. He glanced around at the others and sighed loudly. This was clearly going to be painful. Gandalf placed his cool hands on either side of the wound and Aragorn gripped the arrow hard. He began to slowly slide the arrow out (having to pull hard because it was so deeply embedded) while Legolas' eyes began to glaze with the pain. Aragorn tugged still harder and Legolas began to struggle against Faramir uncontrollably. Faramir was forced to exert all his strength to stop the Elf from accidentally kicking someone. Suddenly there was a loud wrenching sound. Legolas gave a rending cry and the arrow came loose. Blood gushed from the reopened wound. Blood that could not afford to be lost. Fearfully Frodo appeared at their side clutching the rags of the cloak. Aragorn used all his skill to swiftly bind the wound. Legolas gasped in agony. Gandalf took one of the soaked rags and began to clean the excess blood from his face and shoulder. He tried to sit up but Faramir's hands still held him down

"Next time… warn me before…you do…something like that!" he managed to gasp. It had not been a very pleasant waking experience. Aragorn managed a laugh. Legolas had a tendency to find himself in such situations as this. The Hobbits came and sat with them. Pippin still looked vaguely dazed, but he was smiling and that was a good thing. Gandalf turned to Merry now "are you alright Meriadoc?" he asked briskly. Merry took a second to register the use of his full name and then responded

"I am alright Gandalf." But anyone could see that his trial still affected him. He kept glancing at the ceiling and then away hastily. It would take a while for him to forget. They sat there for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Legolas turned to Gandalf to voice his thoughts "Mithrandir, what could Saruman have meant when he mentioned my immortality in relation to his sacrifice?" Gandalf looked troubled for a moment

"I do not know I am afraid to say, and for once I do not even wish to hazard a guess." He opened his mouth to say more but was cut off abruptly as he flew back into the wall, seemingly with no support and his chains wound themselves back around them. The others gasped as they met this same fate, Legolas crying out in pain as his wound was jarred to soon. Shortly they were all in the same positions they had begun in. Once more in the absolute clutches of Saruman.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, sorry about the wait all… you know, the whole Xmas, prelims, New Year thing kinda got in the way. Don't kill me!!!**

**Disclaimer: Oh how I wish…**

Chapter 6 

The fellowship spent a long and difficult night in Orthanc, although they had no way of telling what the time was because there were no windows in their dank little cell. The Hobbits seemed to sleep fitfully, but Aragorn and Faramir simply watched, unable to close their eyes as the reality of the situation shocked them. Gandalf leant against the wall looking to any eyes that did not know him well to be asleep, but with his eyes closed which showed the others that he was awake and was merely deep in thought. It was impossible to tell whether Legolas was asleep or awake. His head hung low and sweat glistened on his forehead. Faramir caught Aragorn's eye "I can see no solution to this problem" he said darkly

"Nor I." Replied Aragorn shortly

"Do you think Gimli and the others escaped unscathed?"

"It depends on what they did after the battle. If the Lorien Elves and Gimli's pride allowed them to make for Lothlorien then they would be safe. If not, I do not know." Faramir sighed and leant his head against the wall. Was Eowyn alright? He had no way of telling. He was not worried for himself in the least. But he soon would be. Dimly he listened to the mutterings of the others in the darkness. A smile almost passed his lips as he listened to Merry colourfully assuring Pippin that once again he was getting no breakfast in bed. He opened his eyes. Aragorn was watching Legolas across the room. "Do you think he will be alright?" asked Faramir indicating Legolas. Aragorn sighed

"Once again I am afraid I do not know. Either the wound will close up safely and he will be back to a semblance of health within a few days, or the wound will become infected and he will die."

"Saruman will not allow him to die!" Both men gave a start. They had not realised Frodo was listening "He wants all of us. It also seems Legolas in particular because of his immortality. No Legolas will not die. Not yet." The men were astounded to see the change in Frodo's face. The Hobbit's eyes were angry and bitter at Saruman.

Though they could not see it the dawn inevitably came, bringing with it Saruman and his anger. The door to the cell banged open jerking all of them from their thoughts. Gandalf opened his eyes and watched Saruman carefully. Saruman stormed in, bringing with him a hail of smirking Orc's. They had clearly already planned for this arrival and the Orc's immediately walked up to their chosen targets for the day. Five Orc's swiftly surrounded both Frodo and Gandalf and ripped of their manacles. The two prisoners struggled weakly but to no avail. They were dragged roughly out of the cell and the door clanged shut behind them leaving the others full of fear over their friends.

Frodo felt as if his heart would burst with fear as he was dragged down the corridor. He wanted to cry out as Gandalf was taken in the opposite direction but his throat seemed to constrict and he could not utter a sound never mind scream. There were two Orc's carrying him; the others had gone with Gandalf. Also he noticed that Saruman had decided to come with him instead of Gandalf. Frodo shivered, he would much rather take on a hundred Orc's than Saruman any day. He wished he could see The Shire. Once again he could not understand what had caused him to leave it. Sam, he supposed, Sam, with his badgering about saving the world and being in another of the great stories. And where was Sam now? Frodo did not even wish to begin to guess.

He was taken inside a dark room; once again no windows decorated the walls. He was sat on a tiny wooden chair and was tied securely. Saruman's pale face leered down at him "I hope master Hobbit" said Saruman "that you will make things simple for us and plainly answer our questions" Frodo ignored him and stared at his woolly toes. Refusing to allow himself to be pulled in by Saruman's voice. Saruman sighed disappointedly although there was a smile on his face "I had hoped you would wish to do things the sensible way rather than the difficult and decidedly more painful route!" Frodo once again did not raise his head. Saruman backed slowly away from him and raised his staff "Prepare to rue this day, Halfling!" he lifted the staff and pointed it at Frodo. Immediately Frodo felt a dark presence entering his mind. He tried to ignore it but it began to slide through his brain. He cried out and tried to push it away but whatever it was seemed to take a grip inside him. Pain flooded his senses. Suddenly all his memories were speeding past his eyes, no only the terrible ones. The news of his parents' death, Gollum biting the ring from his finger, being within the terrible depths of Moria, fleeing from the Orc captains in Mordor. Every terrible thing from any part of his life sped by in front of him. The thing in his head was clawing through them, dragging up things which nobody else had ever seen or known about. He began to scream

"No!" he cried out and tried once again to push the foul darkness from his head but it clung on. He gave in fully to the terror and horror that was gripping him, he simply drew in on himself as much as he could and tried not to look at the images. But they were always there.

Gandalf stood up and glared angrily at the group of Orc's from under his eyebrows. He desperately wanted to harm these creatures, as he had never wished to cause harm before. However he had no weapons. He cursed in several tongues as the Orc's began to walk towards him in a tight circle. Well he was no completely harmless. He may look like an old man but he was still able to fight. Grimly he faced the Orc's "You would do better to give up this foolish pursuit!" he said, sounding braver than he felt. The middle Orc who seemed to be the leader replied in thickly accented common tongue

"You are fool wizard! Sharky will defeat you without struggle! You and pathetic fellowship!" Gandalf groaned inwardly, he was going to have to fight this one out. Before the leader Orc knew what had happened Gandalf had dealt it a hard blow to the face, it stumbled back leaving Gandalf the room to attack the others. Swiftly he swung his leg out and tripped another Orc as it tried to back away, Gandalf hid his smirk. No one ever seemed to think that the wizards could fight. But he had forgotten one very important element of the fight. The Orc's had weapons. All at once clubs, daggers, and axes appeared in the Orc's hands. Gandalf gave up at that point. The Orc's had hesitated to use the weapons before, thinking him weak. It would not happen again. A swing with a club sent him stumbling back into the wall. He tried not to cry out as he fell. After that the Orc's converged. A dagger sliced across the Wizard's chest, not deep but painful. A club made contact with his nose and he painfully felt it shatter. Everything began to fade. Blades slid over his entire body. He saw a large Orc towering over him wielding a long spear. Swiftly he rolled out of the way and the spear struck the wall. But there was no0where to run. The Orc advanced again and Gandalf was forced to fell the pain of it stabbing straight into his kneecap. He felt his knee shatter and began to give in to blessed unconsciousness His last conscious thought was "This'll be a job for Aragorn…" before he slipped into oblivion where he could see and feel no more of what was happening.

The rest of the Fellowship stood fearfully in the cell. They had no idea what was being done to their friends. Merry and Pippin shook, they feared they would loose their cousin. Sam would never forgive them. Faramir smiled at them kindly "take heart perian, our friends are brave." Aragorn just gazed at his feet. He had sworn to protect Frodo and what had he gotten him into? Unexpectedly Legolas opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked slowly, his face still deathly pale. Aragorn opened his mouth to reply but at that moment Saruman entered smiling

"You are in my tower Elf, and you will be staying here until you die which will most likely not be very long." Legolas' face seemed to go whiter still. Saruman waved his hand and his Orc's came in. each of them supporting either Frodo or Gandalf. Merry and Pippin gasped as they saw Frodo, his face was grey and his eyes were glassy and every so often he shuddered. The big blue eyes stared of into the distance as the other Hobbits watched him with horror. They called out to him but he seemed not to know or hear them. Gandalf was not in the best condition either. Blood covered much of his robes and around his eye a dark swollen, yellow bruise made it hard for him to see. He was buckling every time he put weight on his left leg and looked dazed. It was more than Faramir could bear to see his mentor in such a state

"You spawn of darkness!" he cried out in fury "I will kill you for this!" Saruman merely smiled his darkest smile again and signalled to his Orc's. Immediately they walked over and removed Faramir's shackles. He was dragged forward, struggling, towards Saruman. When he was face to face with Saruman, alone, he stopped struggling and faced the evil. Saruman laughed at him "You know that you are expendable?" he asked Faramir cheerfully. Faramir's eyes went wide with fear. Aragorn could not help himself

"No! You cannot!" Saruman turned his gaze to Aragorn

"I cannot? I think you will find I can." The entire group stared at him, frozen. "But perhaps" he continued " a more fitting punishment might be organised." Once again he signalled to his Orc's and Aragorn too was dragged from his position. When he and Faramir were together he placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder in a companionable way. Saruman snatched a black bloodstained whip from one of the Orc's and pressed it into Aragorn's hand. "Hit me or my Orc's and he will die!" he whispered. Aragorn clutched the whip and stared around. What was he supposed to do with it? His question was soon answered. Faramir was wrestled to the floor by several Orc's and then turned towards Aragorn.

"Ten lashes with the whip!" said Saruman, Aragorn looked at him with eyes full of horror

"Never!" he cried out

"Would you rather I killed him?" Aragorn could not speak. He just gaped at Saruman. The members of the fellowship were crying out and struggling against their bonds. Aragorn clutched the whip and raised his hands. Pippin screamed.

"No Aragorn! No!" Aragorn looked at him, his eyes filled with grief

"What else can I do?" Saruman spoke up

"Indeed, what else can you do? I suggest you begin, or maybe the task can be completed in another manner- maybe with the slitting of the brother of Boromir's throat?" Faramir looked up at Aragorn

"Do it." He said "There is no alternative Aragorn, I understand!" Once again Aragorn raised the whip, but just as he raised his arm to deliver the blow he dropped his arm and looked at Saruman once more

"Surely not on his chest? Even you could not be that evil!" Saruman grinned

"I can and will! On his front your Highness, on his front. Oh, and the number has been raised to fifteen lashes due to your indecisiveness."

Aragorn turned round once again to face Faramir. The man offered him a grim smile. Aragorn lifted his arm and this time he went all the way. The whip seemed to move back in slow motion and then it feel hard and fast. There was an almighty crack, and a think red line appeared right across Faramir's chest. Faramir made no sound. It was Aragorn who gasped. He looked at Saruman who nodded and lifted the whip for the second time. Again the whip cracked and a new line appeared. Faramir once more made no sound but his breathing grew heavier. Aragorn tried to move quickly to get it over and done with. Three, four, five, six. Each time Faramir's breathing became more ragged. On the tenth lash he gave in and whimpered. Aragorn too moaned as if struck but he lifted the vile thing again. He tried to send encouragement to Faramir through his eyes. On the fourteenth lash Faramir cried out in an agony filled voice. His chest was a mess. It was covered in deep red lines and blood dripped everywhere. Aragorn let the whip slide from his hand "I cannot do it!" he said in a strangled voice "I cannot hurt him anymore." The Orc's let Faramir go and he slumped to the ground. Saruman looked at Aragorn with feigned sympathy

"But you are almost done!" when Aragorn made no move he continued "No, well then!" he clicked his fingers and one of the Orc's poised a knife over Faramir's heart "would you rather this route?" Aragorn gasped and picked up the whip. He looked at the others. All three Hobbit's had averted their eyes, but Legolas and Gandalf watched, refusing to turn their backs on their friends. The Orc's moved Faramir to where he had been before. Aragorn heaved up the whip and hit Faramir for the last time. The last mark appeared across Faramir's shoulder and snaked right down to his stomach in a curving line. The Orc's wrestled Faramir back into his chains and Saruman faced Aragorn, looking like a cat that had got the cream "Perhaps you were not such a bad king after all!" was all he said. Aragorn dived at Saruman, but his arms were grabbed by Orc's and he was put back in his shackles. Saruman turned and left once again. This day they were not released from their bonds. The dark Istari had no sympathy.

**Phew! Like the longest chapter I have ever written! Tune in next chapter to learn the fate of Gimli and co. Can't decide whether or not to kill Eowyn, any thoughts?**

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

**Janeyboy**

**Rick Starkey**

**I need reviews to live! Keep reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, excuse of the month. My Internet died. I had to print out the story and then re-type it at someone else's house. That was not fun. This chapter is less angsty, but I'll make up for it later mwuhaha!! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I'm a lot of things, but the author of the Lord of the Rings is not one of them. Luckily I got some characters of my own in this one! Yay!

Chapter 7 

Gimli rushed as fast as he could through the trees, which was not considerably fast right now because he was attempting to carry Eowyn (who was decidedly taller than him) and drag Sam along at the same time. As soon as they were a reasonable distance from the battle he slunk behind a thick grouping of trees and bushes before letting the other two go. He panted heavily as he sat. "Are you alright, Sam, lad?" he asked, concerned

"I'm alright Mr Gimli, Sir, but I'm afraid for Mr Frodo!" said Sam, his face full of fear

"Aragorn and the others will look after him." The two of them sat in silence for a second. Sam glanced at Eowyn worriedly

"Is there anything you can do for her?" Gimli glanced at Eowyn and sighed

"I am no healer, I would rather wait for Aragorn or Gandalf rather than risk doing more harm." After they spoke the two of them were once again silent for a time, a multitude of thoughts running through both of their minds. Gimli was worried for Legolas. Even he could see that having an arrow straight through your shoulder might be slightly dangerous. Suddenly he stood up, unable to take the silent tension any longer. Turning to Sam he spoke "I am going back to see what is taking them so long. Wait here with Eowyn and try to give her some water." With that he turned and walked out of the cluster of plants.

Gimli slunk through the forest. Although he could never match Legolas or the Hobbits he could still move fairly silently. He frowned as he neared the clearing. There was no sound whatsoever. He hid behind a tree. Slowly he moved his head round to see what was happening. He gasped as he saw what lay before him. Elvish, Gondorian and Orckish arrows lay scattered over the ground, swords were lying still embedded in Orc bodies and the stench of blood was in the air. He dashed into the clearing and began to search to see if any of his friends lay among the bodies. None were there. He could not decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He pounced on something he saw as he searched. It was Gandalfs staff, and it was broken in two. He began to back out of the clearing when he heard a low chortle. Gimli spun on his heel just in time to catch a small Orc who was trying to stick him in the back. Quickly he jumped backwards and embedded his axe into the Orc's shoulder. He grabbed it as it fell "Where are they?" he asked it, then repeated himself louder "Where Are They?" The Orc leered up at him, arrogant even in its last breath and Gimli was reminded strongly of a time during the quest when he had though Aragorn was lost.

"Taken!" laughed the Orc, punctuating it with a dying wheeze

"By whom?" snapped Gimli

"Sharkey got them. Sharkey always gets what he wants. In the end." Gimli groaned, this was going to make things difficult and the idiot Elf was already injured! He looked down at the Orc before him. He had the information he wanted and so made sure he got to kill this Orc as he had not the last time. He was not gentle. Afterwards Gimli swept up Gandalf's staff and returned to Sam.

Sam rushed out of the bushes towards Gimli as he returned, "It's the Lady Eowyn, Mr Gimli, Sir! She's all hot and feverish!" Sam's round face was a mask of terror. He suddenly noticed that Gimli was alone "Where are the others? Where's my master?"

"Taken." Replied Gimli before running towards where Eowyn lay hidden, with Sam puffing along behind him. Once in the hiding place he was shocked when he looked at Eowyn; blood was spattered all over her clothes and her face held a deadly pallor. He knelt down next to her "I wish now more than ever that Aragorn was here. My skills are inadequate." Sam looked shocked

"You cannot allow her to die!" Gimli sighed

"All I can do until we gain some assistance is staunch the bleeding" with that he tore his cloak into strips and laid them ready. He swiftly washed the wound with water. About halfway through the proceedings Sam went very pale and exited the space muttering about needing more water. He looked very green. Gimli bound the strips round Eowyn and gazed at her beautiful face "Do not die on me now Lady of Gondor and of Rohan. Not after so much hardship, and Faramir would kill me if I were to allow you to die." At that moment Sam plunged back in

"I was looking for water and I found…Well they found me…Elves Mr Gimli! I found Elves!" Gimli looked up in surprise as two Elves did indeed follow Sam back into the clearing. They were both female. The first was small with short brown hair that was tightly tied away from her face and blue eyes, while the second had long blonde hair that flowed over her shoulders and was a little taller than her companion. The blonde Elf knelt by Eowyn and pressed some herbs from her belt pouch into the human's mouth. The other turned to Gimli and smiled

"I am Nienna Telemnar and my companion is Enelya Elanesse. We found your friend in the forest. We have been searching for you all night. Enelya speaks little common tongue but I shall translate for her."

"Amin dele ten' he" said Enelya to Nienna in the melodic voice that all Elves have.

"We must move her from this place, she is in danger." Said Nienna to the others "We will bring you to a place of safety. Come with us now. All will be explained when we have the time." Gimli seemed doubtful. He had never been in the company of Elves without Legolas or another to guide him, but the Elves made the decision for him. Together they lifted Eowyn and bore her down a pathway that appeared hidden unless you knew it was there.

Gimli and Sam found themselves hurrying through the forest, trying hard to keep up with the much longer legged Elves. Sam of course had the hardest job. Eventually they found themselves on the edge of the small forest and facing Fangorn across a wide open space. Following the Elves signal they slid onto their knees and crawled through the long grass. Gimli and Sam nearly fell over each other when their guides were suddenly still. They were all silent until they heard the heavy tramp of Orc footsteps. "Stay here!" whispered Nienna, and she and Enelya began to crawl forwards. Together they attacked the Orc party. It was an almost comical sight to see the surprise and fear on the Orc's faces as one by one their legs were cut from beneath them. When all the Orcs were down the Elvesa returned and beckoned them onwards. Soon they broke the cover of Fangorns trees and stood and ran. The two Elves led them to what looked exactly like a cave wall and Enelya stepped forward. She seemed to speak to the wall "I'narr en gothrim glinuva nuin I'anor" then a faint reply came

"Lye nuquernuva sen e dagor" the wall seemed to slide open and with it reveal a group of Elves and the deeper part of the forest. As they stepped inside Nienna whispered to Gimli and Sam

"The Ents helped us build this sanctuary after we came to Fangorn to stay." A tall Elf stepped forward with the dark hair customary to Rivendell

"Welcome. I am Aikanáro. We have been waiting for you" He gestured Sam and Gimli towards the fire and the gate closed behind them almost as if it had never been there in the first place.

After they had been fed and watered the two of them sat amidst a circle of Elves. Sam's face was bright with rapture to be in the company of so many Elves; he had never quite gotten over his excitement at meeting them, but underneath it lay a deep seated fear for his master. Soon Aikanáro stood up and began to speak to them "After the War of the Ring, many Elves of all the kindred's heard that Fangorn was alive once more. Immediately several of us travelled here to live. For the last nine years we have lived here in peace and although that may seem long to you it is but a fleeting moment to us. But at midnight, four months ago smoke rose from Isenguard once more. Or course we knew not what was happening so I sent my scouts to inform me of what was going on. I believe you met two of them." He indicated Nienna and Enelya (The latter blushing furiously at the attention) and then continued, "What they told me was almost impossible to believe. Saruman alive again? Impossible! But we could do nothing, as our numbers were too few. However we sent runners out to Lothlorien, Greenwood and Imladris to inform them of our plight. Luckily for all they believed us and set about re-gathering Tel'Mithrim to do what we could not and infiltrate Isenguard. Unfortunately as you can see, it has failed."

"We refuse to abandon out friends!" stated Gimli sharply

"My master is there," continued Sam "He was the ring bearer. Saruman hates him. I would rather be inside there myself than allow him to face it!"

"Uuma dela" said Aikanáro "I merely wished to offer you whatever aid myself and my people can. We hate the tree killer as much as you do. Perhaps more." His green eyes sparkled with fire directed at Saruman.

"Oh." Said Sam in a small voice, while Gimli blushed heavily

"I must know for now however," said Gimli "where is the Lady Eowyn?"

Another Elf replied, this one with silvery hair and blue eyes "My name is Inwe, I am head of Healers. Eowyn is with my best people. If anyone can heal her it is them."

"In the meantime," said Aikanáro "We must discuss what is to be done about your friends in Saruman's clutches."

"I feel," said Nienna "That the only thing possible is for some of us to continue the quest with Gimli and Samwise." Aikanáro smiled at her

"Was that a volunteer, Nienna?"

"Manka lle merna." She replied, Enelya too stood.

"Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar" she said sharply

"Any others who wish to take part in this speak now." He counted those who stood. "No more than six I think. And we already have two. Good, Larien, Amrod, Maeglin and Taurnil shall go. As for entrance I think I have way for you to get inside." Said Aikanáro, Gimli had been just about to reply when an Elf ran into the glade. There was blood on his hands. Aikanáro stood "What has happened?"

"The Lady Eowyn, she has stopped breathing. I fear she will not last the night!"

That was a huge amount of Elvish. This is the only chappie I get to use so much of it so I might as well go crazy. Here be the translations

**Amin dele ten'he** I am worried for her

**I'narr en gothrim glinuva nuin I'anor** The bones of our foes will gleam under the sun

**Lye nuquernuva sen e dagor** we will defeat them in battle

**Tel'Mithrim** The grey comapany

**Uuma dela** Don't worry

**Manka lle merna ** If you wish

**Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar** I will follow you to death and beyond.

I finally got more reviewers than I could list! Yay! Thanks to all reviwers 

**To Rick Starkey: I didn't kill her you see…yet!**


	8. Chapter 8

Hi guys! My fullest apologies for the wait, my internet is still down. We've now discovered that we need a new telegraph pole. Also sorry for the length, this chapter was kinda hard to write. More angst next week, I swear! But enough about my boring life, on with the chapter

Disclaimer: I had a dream I owned it once. That's about the closest I'll ever get.

Chapter 8

Gimli and Sam leapt to their feet. Eowyn could not be dying! As fast as they could they followed Aikanáro and the healers through the twisting turning paths of the haven the Elves had built for themselves. A thousand thoughts rushed around Gimli's head "What could have happened to Eowyn? Could she really die here, alone without Faramir?" he shuddered to think about it. They burst in through the door of the healer's room to find Elves working flat out to try and help Eowyn. Thousands of shelves stacked with bottles and equipment were built into the walls, and the Elves seemed to be using rather a lot of them. Sam pushed through the crowd, heading straight towards where he could see Eowyn's hair. Gimli swiftly followed. What they saw horrified them. Eowyn lay splayed out across the bed. A mass of bandages covered her chest and all of her visible skin seemed to have a blue tinge to it. Gimli turned and grabbed a nearby Elf "Will she live?" The Elf glanced at him as if not really seeing that he was there, then seemed to give himself a shake

"I do not know Master Dwarf. It all is dependant on the next two hours. It is crucial that she survives it." Then he hurried away to continue with what he was doing. Gimli and Sam were ushered out by another Elf, this one female.

"This is no place for you." She said to them kindly "we are doing everything we can for her." She led them outside to some sort of waiting room where a number of elaborately carved wooden chairs sat. Gimli felt as if his heart would stop from the fear.

Sam lost track of how long they sat there waiting. The afternoon light passed slowly into velvety blackness and one by one the stars winked into existence. Sam gazed up at them and uttered a silent prayer for Eowyn and all his friends. Things had gone very badly wrong. Gimli returned from his third quest to find out what was going on, once again empty of news. They sat together in silence. Suddenly a tall Elf with raven hair emerged from the room. There was blood on his hands. He paced towards them, there was a weary look in his eyes which said much for Elves are rarely tired

"We have stabilized the woman's condition. For a short while." Gimli made to get up excitedly but the Elf held up a hand "She is very badly injured and there is only so much we can do for her. With what we have done she will last a few days." Gimli was shocked

"Surely there is something that can be done to save her!" he exclaimed

"There is only one thing we can think of. The Athelas plant may save her, but we need someone to call her back. It must be someone who loves her. Someone her spirit will listen to, and we need them within two days!"

"Faramir!" cried Sam "He is the only one that can help her."

"Indeed!" said a new voice. Aikanáro hurried towards them "We must leave within the hour. We have just had word from a group of our scouts that Saruman is planning some kind of dark experiment that your friends are to be used in. For the young lady's sake and for all of us we must leave now to rescue the captives. Will you come?" Gimli nodded his head, but turned to Sam

"Will you not stay? There is blood to be shed?"

"I will rescue my Master!" almost shouted Sam "I promised not to loose him, not ever. I am going." Aikanáro shrugged

"The Perian makes a good point. He shall come with us, he has more than proven himself worthy." Gimli gave in quickly after that and the group prepared to leave.

A small group of Elves, along with a Hobbit and a Dwarf were swiftly making their way across the grasses on the way to Orthanc. The would have been noticed at once had it not been for the considerably larger group of Elves marching of to their left. They had seen no one yet and Gimli was beginning to feel nervous. The Elf called Taurnil smiled at him

"It will be interesting to see the Black Istari finally get what he deserves." Gimli swallowed his nerves and grinned back. The Elf was young and quick witted (with his tongue as well as on the battle field) and Gimli was beginning to like him. He opened his mouth to reply, but Enelya, who was leading them whispered back to them

"Dina!" the other Elves immediately stopped their whispered conversations, but Gimli looked around confusedly

"What?" he asked, too loudly it seemed because many of the group winced. Amrod slid his hand across Gimli's mouth

"It means be silent!" he whispered "something that Dwarves are not generally good at!" Nienna smirked and nimble dodged Gimli's attempted hit. Enelya turned back and whispered more Elvish

"She says there are Orcs ahead!" whispered Nienna. The Elf Larien began to slide forward, drawing her swords as she went but Enelya grabbed her arm "N'ndengina sen. Mallen pelu e' n'alaquel en' sen" Sam was very confused but decided to follow the others rather than remain where he was to think about it.

Soon there was a cry from behind them. The Orc's had discovered the Elves. "There it is!" Maeglin whispered to them. Indeed Orthanc towered above them.

Thankyou to all my nice reviewers. You all rock!

Translations:

N'ndengina sen. Mallen pelu e' n'alaquel en' sen – Don't kill them, circle around behind them."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiya Guys! I got my Internet back! Yay! Long chapters for all! Seriously though, I'm really chuffed with the reviewer response to this so far! But on with the chapter…**

**Disclaimer: If I owned LOTR I would be so rich…I would have a chauffeur and a mansion and a personnel homework doing machine…but I don't. Ah well.**

**Chapter 9 **

Saruman was not happy. The information he wished for was not being given. He sat in his huge chair brooding angrily while Grima observed from the side. There had to be a simple way to deal with the Fellowship. Force was clearly not working, so what could he do? There must be some form of shared weakness within them. Suddenly the answer hit him. He sprang up from his chair startling Grima who threw himself backwards to avoid being trampled (as he knew fine well that Saruman would do it, they had never quite gotten over the little thing about him murdering Saruman last time around. Indeed, Grima was only alive again because Saruman thought he might need a scapegoat at some point and they both knew it.) Saruman walked quickly towards the door with Grima following at his heels. His knew idea would work like magic. He was sure of it.

In the darkened cell the Fellowship spoke softly. "Where do you think the others are?" asked a saddened little voice, Pippin was not happy. Several days of confinement had not been good for him

"I'm sure that they are fine. At least they are not here. That has to amount to something!" said Faramir positively, and then winced as his wounds were jarred. Aragorn also shivered at his pain, the guilt of what he had done was consuming him, even though no one in the room blamed him, not even Faramir. He had been silent for a long time and rarely spoke except when it was unavoidable.

"There is always hope in the darkest places. We have all learned this." Continued Legolas, but all conversation stopped as the door was flung open with a bang. Saruman looked happier than they had seen him up until now. This did not bode well for any of them. He surveyed them all, looking for all the world like the cat that had got the cream.

"I trust you have enjoyed your stay?" No one bothered to answer; no one did anything except to glare at him. "I have been thinking recently…I think that we need to establish some things between us. When I want information you will give it to me!" Gandalf looked at him scathingly

"You shall gain nothing from anyone here Saruman. We are all able to stand up to even your darkest plans." Saruman laughed

"Ah, you may be able to stand up to torture yourselves- but are you able to watch others suffer?" Frodo went pale. He could not imagine having to watch as his friend's endured torment and he was certain the others would feel the same as he. Saruman glanced around the assembled looking for his victim. They all remained brave and tried to stare him out. His eyes alighted on Legolas. A thin smile touched his lips "yes" he whispered softly "That will do fine." He snapped his fingers and Legolas' bonds disappeared. Unused to walking the Elf faltered, but his arm was caught by an Orc. The creature dragged him forwards towards Saruman, its thick fingers digging deeply into Legolas' pale skin. Saruman laughed as Legolas was thrown to the floor before him. He bent down "How does it feel to be under my command, princeling?" Legolas shuddered but otherwise said nothing. Saruman gazed round at all the others "Would anyone like to volunteer the information, or do you need a little persuasion?" Legolas spun to face them

"Tell him nothing!" Saruman looked down at him, fury etched in his face. He snatched Legolas' wrist. With his other hand he took Legolas' first finger in his. Legolas watched in horror, he could guess where this was going. With a large smile Saruman wrenched his finger back. The others flinched. A loud crack rent the air, but was quickly obscured when Legolas cried out in agony. Legolas tried to get his other hand to his finger, but Grima jerked it behind his back and Saruman still held onto his wrist. He smiled at the others. "Anything suddenly returned to any of you?" dragging Legolas behind him, he walked up to Aragorn "I thought the Elf was supposed to be your best friend…why won't you save him?" Aragorn groaned but said nothing "Fine." Said Saruman, he lifted Legolas arm again and grabbed the second finger. Legolas began to breathe fast; he knew what was coming this time. Saruman took his time this time, slowly, slowly, he bent the finger backwards. Legolas clenched his teeth and refused to give Saruman the satisfaction of a reaction. At the height of the pain the bone snapped. Legolas made no sound, but he went very white and swayed where he knelt. Openly laughing now and not even bothering to ask for information Saruman grabbed another finger. This time Legolas screamed. Saruman had yanked this finger sideways and the bone pierced the skin, a bit of white and red against the flesh

"No!" shouted Gandalf furiously "Let go of him!" Aragorn could only stare in horror as Legolas' eyes began to glaze. They noticed that blood was beginning to soak through his tunic again. Grima had re-opened the arrow wound. Saruman reached out for the last finger, but at that moment an Orc rushed in. It ran up to Saruman and whispered furiously in his ear. Saruman glared at it

"Can you not sort it yourself?" the Orc shook his head, muttering, Saruman glanced from the Fellowship to the Orc. He pushed Legolas away from him and stormed from the room with Grima trailing him, but before Grima could leave he slammed and locked the door behind him

"Master!" howled Grima as he banged on the door "Let me out!" breathing heavily he turned to look at his cellmates angrily.

Saruman hurried up the hall. The tower was being attacked! He had heard the rumours of Elves in the woods, but he had never believed them, until now. The Orcs on guard were apparently outnumbered so he was going in with reinforcements. He shouted orders to the remaining Orcs and they began to follow him, snatching up their weapons as they went. For a moment he looked around confused, where was Grima? He shrugged "The pathetic coward has probably found himself a hiding hole to avoid doing any work!" he said to himself. He exited the tower. The Elves had slaughtered his gate guards and were swiftly disposing of the others. The Orcs were ill prepared and the elves were picking them off. He spoke a word and the furnaces sprung to life. A number of Elves cried out as the flames licked at them, but the arrows still came. He surveyed the scene before him. His reinforcements had begun to swing the balance, but something felt wrong. The Elves. There were too few of them. They would never have attacked him with so few and expected to win. It was a diversion! He cursed; the captives! Swiftly Saruman turned on his heel and marched back inside, calling about twenty Orcs as he went.

Gimli slid through the door behind the Elves, he was sick of them telling him to be quieter. He was being silent as a mouse- no, not a mouse, mice squeaked, something very quiet anyway. Sam followed him in. The Hobbits nerves were at breaking point. He cared for nothing else except getting his master out alive. The group slid through the dark halls. Enelya was leading, she was uncomfortable. They should have bumped into some form of block by now. They turned into the dungeons. Enelya led because she was the only one who had ever been here before. A long time ago, before Saruman had turned to darkness she had been a messenger from Lothlorien and she knew her way around. It disgusted her to remember that Saruman had given her a tour. Neinna was not in a good mood either. She did not like this place. It was tainted. They moved into a corridor full of doors "This is it!" whispered Enelya. They kept going. Suddenly a shout came muffled through a door "Master! Let me out!" They smiled. Amrod produced a needle and began to pick the huge padlock. Elvish hands are deft and the heavy lock swung open. They pushed the door open and a terrible sight met their eyes. The Fellowship stood chained against a round wall, most of them bore painful looking marks and blood was on their clothes. Legolas sat against a wall cradling one hand to his chest. Three of the fingers were bent and swollen. They were black and blue and bright blood was smeared over them. The other hand was trying to staunch the wound to his shoulder. Grima stood at the door glaring angrily around as if trying to decide who to take his temper out on. Nienna rushed to him as she too was a Mirkwood Elf while the others began to release the Fellowship. Maeglin struck Grima on the back of his head and the human crumpled to the ground. The group went to the door as fast as possible, Aragorn and Taurnil supporting Legolas at the back. Sam ran to Frodo and the two Hobbits embraced. They were all on a high to be escaping. "How comes this?" asked Gandalf as they ran

"We were told of your plight and decided to assist!" said Amrod cheerfully. At the back Legolas suddenly felt Taurnil's support disappear from under him. He crashed to the ground dragging Aragorn with him. Taurnil lay still with a black arrow protruding from his back. Aragorn leapt to his feet and glanced backwards. A large group of Orcs were rushing up the corridor towards them with Saruman following behind. The group ahead turned back and began to run backwards, but Aragorn faced them "No! Leave now or no one will get out!" they hesitated "You can come back for us! Get out!" they ran once more. It was not cruelty, but the only thing that could have been done as the fight was not one that could have been won, and there was no possibility of sacrificing many lives for some. Pippin turned back. He lagged slightly and then tripped over a crack in the floor. Merry cried out and turned back for him, but Amrod's strong arm pulled him along. Aragorn bent down and retrieved Taurnil's sword. He faced the Orcs. Legolas attempted to get to his feet but he had lost too much blood. The Orcs converged while the rest of the group sped towards the door. Pippin cried out and began to run but Saruman spoke a word and the door began to close, he screamed and pushed himself faster. The first group passed through the door, with both Gimli and Merry fighting tooth and nail to get back inside. Pippin was almost there. Closer. Just a little closer, but just as he was within centimetres of it, the door closed. They were trapped.

**Well thanks to all my 19 (19!) reviewers, I'm so chuffed because this is my first ever fiction. I hope you liked the chapter…you all thought they would all get out! Lol! Well R and R. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Phew! I'm quite proud of that last chapter; I got a nice amount of response! Also, I know how to end the story now although I still have a few more chapters to go, but theirs a little clue in this chapter, I wander if anyone will get it?**

**Disclaimer: Why must you force me to admit every single chapter that the thing I would dearly love to own I don't own and I never will!**

**Chapter 10**

Saruman smiled as Aragorn strove to defeat some of the Orcs with Taurnil's sword. Aragorn was weakened by long capture and struggled to even badly wound some of the Orcs. He heard the door clang shut behind him. The others were gone. He was glad, but also worried as to their own fate. Legolas was lying at his feet in a growing pool of blood and soft cries came from him whenever he moved. The Orcs converged upon Aragorn with small knives and daggers, there were many of them and Aragorn was badly outnumbered. He struck the first Orc on the wrist, severing the hand and the Orc gave a cry and backed away, but more replaced it. They stabbed furiously at Aragorn, never aiming to kill but always to hurt. Before long had passed Aragorn was covered in a multitude of bloody cuts and bruises. A knife fell upon his arm and he dropped the sword. He only just avoided landing on Legolas who was crouched next to him. Pippin turned from the door and raced back to his friends. He was unharmed so far. Saruman laughed as he saw the Hobbit. He lifted his hand and Pippin's woolly feet left the floor. Laughing like a maniac now he threw Pippin backwards where the Hobbits head banged hard into a wall. The Hobbit's eyes glazed slightly and he moved no more. Legolas glared at Saruman. He was weary and wounded but he tried to do something. His legs were unharmed so he swung out a foot and caught a big Orc on the ankle. The Orc toppled and fell to the ground, taking three of its fellows with it. Saruman waveda hand and the Orcs cleared, leaving him with a path straight to the captives. He grabbed Aragorn and hoisted the man to his feet before turning his head to the Orcs. Bring the Halfling and the Elf. We are moving them from their cell.

Legolas came to consciousness slowly. He twisted his arms and groaned when he found that they would not move. It was wet where he sat. They were outside. He lifted his head slowly, even this small movement made his head spin. Aragorn sat across from him. He spat out a mouthful of blood "Where are we, mellon nin?" he asked slowly "and where is Pippin?"

"We are on top of Orthanc. Saruman brought us here. Pippin is bound on the third pillar." Legolas nodded slowly

"Then… why do I remember none of this transpiring?"

"You passed out from blood loss. The Orcs carried you here." Legolas tried to stop the involuntary shudder that coursed through him at that. "How are you feeling now?" asked Aragorn. Legolas sighed to himself; the man would never abate his fussing.

"I am fine! I think for once that you should be worried for yourself and for Pippin."

"Both myself and Pippin are fine. Pippin is only unconscious from a knock to his head and I am not badly wounded…you on the other hand passed out from blood loss. What in Arda were you trying to do." Legolas shook his head slowly. Aragorn laughed hoarsely. That meant that the Elf had no idea why he had tried to attack a wizard and a battalion of Orcs single handed, but then he had no idea why he had done it himself. He was just glad that Legolas had not been in a position to see what was going on at that point. Legolas gazed around until he saw Pippin. The Hobbit was silent and his head was slumped forward- but he looked to be merely sleeping except for a slight swelling on the back of his head. Legolas waited until Aragorn was busy watching Pippin for any signs of problems and then glanced at his fingers. What he saw nearly made him retch. The first two fingers were bent at awkward angles and a rainbow of bruises covered the hand. They were swollen to twice their normal size as well. But it was the third finger that was worst. A splinter of bone half the size of the finger was protruding and a mass of half congealed blood surrounded it. Slowly, Legolas tried to shift the fingers. That small movement sent a rush of fiery pain down his arm as the healing sinew and bone was damaged. He cried out. Aragorn swung around as best he could while tied "What are you doing?" he demanded, Legolas remained silent. Aragorn suddenly caught sight of Legolas hand and he flinched "Do not tell me that you tried to move that!" Legolas again remained silent, he was afraid if he opened his mouth he would scream. Pippin began to stir; Aragorn's harsh tones had awoken him. The small Hobbit glanced around

"Aragorn! Legolas! Did we get out?" sadly Aragorn shook his head.

"We are on top of the tower." Said Aragorn as Legolas slid his hand out of view

"So I suppose there is no chance of dinner?" the others decided to ignore this question, and just then a gust of wind howled past them and a downpour began. Legolas laughed humourlessly

"Saruman's doing I would assume. Well if he thinks to overcome us with a little weather, then he has forgotten where we have already travelled already!" All three of them gazed up at the black clouds that were brewing.

Saruman paced furiously up and down his chamber. The prisoners had escaped! After all his careful planning a tiny rabble of Elves had tricked him. He faced the small group of Elves taken captive from the battle outside. They stared back defiantly. Grima stood behind them holding a dagger tightly.

"We will not surrender to you; you are no more than a creature of Morgoth!" cried the Elf who seemed to be the leader. He had jet black hair and bright green eyes. It had taken twelve Orc's to subdue him on the battlefield. Saruman grit his teeth into what could only be an evil grin

"A creature of Morgoth you say? This proves how well you know your own history. As to the question of surrender…I have no need for that. I would call you more of an _example_." Some of the younger Elves shivered. They had seen many "examples" is recent years and none had been pretty. Saruman looked again at the leader and smiled at Grima. Grima returned his grin and stuck his dagger in the Elf's back. He collapsed and the others gasped, a small female Elf glared at Saruman furiously "Utinu en lokirim!" she cried, struggling wildly against her bonds. Saruman slapped her hard and she reeled backwards, directly into the knife that Grima held waiting. What happened next was swift. The Orcs and Grima killed the remaining Elves and cut of their heads. Saruman stepped over the bodies and made his way to the door, before leaving he turned back "Clear up this mess!" he went to leave again but remembered an idea "Oh, and reunite the heads with their kindred. The Elves will want to mourn them properly. The Orcs leered and Saruman slammed the door behind him.

**Translation:**

**Utinu en lokirim Son of snakes**

**Right, thankyou to all my reviewers, I love reviews, they keep me going! Oh and for all the Aragorn fans there's angst for everyone in the next chapter. Mwuhaha! See you next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, how are you? I'm quite proud of this chapter. It's amazingly long for me, I'm just so lazy normally! Thankyou to all those who reviewed and keep reading**

**Disclaimer: My Christmas wish was to own LOTR. I didn't get it. **

**Chapter 11**

A small group of people ran as fast as they could back towards the confines of the forest. The army had won a part of their victory, but they had not done enough. Three members of the fellowship remained captive and one of the rescue team was dead, also many Elves had perished in the main battle. They knew that the Orcs would be coming after them and so moved as fast as they could to try and get under cover of the trees. They were moving slower now as those they had rescued from Orthanc were exhausted and a number of them bore wounds. Gimli was doing his best to pull Merry along as the Hobbit was still determined to return for Pippin. They reached the trees and ducked under the branches. Nienna slowly came to the front. She was clutching her side where a dagger had been scraped across it, and she was closely followed by Enelya who had several small grazes on her face from a serrated Orc weapon that she had only just dodged in time. Nienna called the opening words and the gate swung open.

As soon as they entered healers descended upon the group. Elvish healers can be very determined, but before they made it Aikanaro pushed through to them

"Where is the Prince of Mirkwood and the King of Gondor?" He looked farther into the crowd "and I believe we are a Hobbit short as well!" he saw the ashen faces of the group and how depleted their number appeared to be "What has befallen you?" concern was etched into his face as he feared for his people. None stepped forward; everyone was still down from the losses they had suffered. Aikanaro grabbed Enelya's arm "What happened?" she looked him straight in the eyes

"Saruman saw through the diversion and attacked us. We were unable to rescue three of the captives. There was a fight and we lost Taurnil. The battle was won, but it seems Saruman has found a way to breed the Orcs faster than ever. They outnumbered us and many were killed before we had a victory." Aikanaro shook his head slowly

"How many wounded?"

"We have not yet counted." Nienna took Enelya's place to explain. Taurnil had been a close friend of Enelya's. Seeing that the discussion appeared to be finished the healers again took control. Gandalf came to Aikanaro

"I am greatly honoured to see you again my friend, and I must thank you for your assistance in our hour of need. We would have been lost otherwise." He leant in closer "I must speak with you about Sarumans plans! We must see what we can deduce from any knowledge we have!" Aikanaro nodded and the two of them walked off together, Gandalf limping heavily. A healer ran after them anxiously. Most of the rest of the group was taken to the healers ward, but as Faramir passed a tall Elf grabbed his arm

"If you could spare the time before your treatment we need your assistance." Faramir nodded wearily and followed them, to tired to even be curious about where he was headed.

They arrived a short while later at a small room. Faramir entered first. He cried out and rushed in to where Eowyn lay upon the bed. He threw himself down on the floor next to her bed, jarring most of his wounds as he did so, and clutched her hand tightly to his chest. The Elf who had brought him spoke again

"Do not fear, she yet lives. But we are in need of your assistance if it is to remain so." Faramir nodded

"What must I do?"

"We shall use the athelas plant to call her back to us but she will not heed our cries. You must call to her."

"How?" asked Faramir "She cannot hear me!"

"Call not just with your voice but with your heart also." Faramir again nodded and the Elves began to crush athelas into bowl filled with boiled water. Then they began to sponge Eowyn's fevered face with it. They nodded at Faramir and he tried to call to her

"Eowyn! Eowyn! I need you!" nothing happened

"Try again!" cried the Elves, this time Faramir put everything he could into it

"Eowyn!" he was crying now. It hit him what loosing her would entail "Eowyn! Please, don't leave me! I love you!" the Elves slowed for a moment, moved by what they had seen. Besides, there was nothing more to be done. It was up to Eowyn what next occurred. Eowyn lay still. Her chest was not moving. Faramir clutched her hand tighter and wept openly. He could not bear to loose her. He knew this. Suddenly Eowyn took in a breath and her chest rose and fell slowly. The healer Elves cried out for joy

"She heeded your call! She will live." Eowyn would not wake up for a while yet so they took Faramir to be treated with his friends (although it took a long while to persuade him to leave his wife's side).

As they came closer many Elves wandered about with their arms in slings or bandages covering parts of their bodies. Enelya waved from where her face was being tended to. Faramir came and sat with his friends. Frodo and Merry had many small bandages, but for the lack of physical wounds they made up for in mental scars. Both were pale and drawn, with dark shadows encircling their eyes. However, both smiled at him as he sat. Nienna came over to Faramir

"Shirt off please." Faramir looked at her

"What?!" Nienna sighed

"I am assisting the healers!" she shook her head "I do not go around demanding that men remove their shirts for no good reason!" Merry and Gimli both sniggered loudly as Faramir blushed

"Oh." He muttered before shedding his shredded shirt. Nienna gasped at the marks over his chest

"how was this done to you?" she demanded, Faramir, Merry and Frodo shared a look. They were all remembering the terrible thing that Saruman had forced Aragorn to do, eventually Faramir returned his gaze to Nienna

"It was Saruman's doing." He said slowly, he bore Aragorn no ill will for what had been done. He would have done the same thing in the other mans place. He hissed as Nienna covered the injuries in a potent healing solution. Swiftly she finished bandaging them and then moved on to the next person who needed assistance. Gimli turned to Merry

"Go and make sure that the Elf over there tended to her own wounds, and find the rest of the rescue party too. It would be just like them to ignore their own wounds. Stubborn Elves, all the same!" as Gimli began a tirade Merry moved off as fast as he could

"I saw Eowyn." Said Faramir

"Is she alright?" asked Frodo

"They wished me to help heal her. They say she will live." Relief sparked on Frodo's face and he hurried off after Merry to tell him, with Sam following like a puppy. When the Hobbits had left Gimli turned to Faramir

"So, truthfully, how are those that remain? I had no time to see them in the struggle." Faramir sighed

"Pippin is in not too bad a state, similar to that of Merry and Frodo expect, though I worry for them being left in Saruman's hands. Aragorn sustains many minor injuries but nothing too serious it seems, but I think he blames himself for the capture."

"He would, foolish man. I hope he can forget his guilt as he has nothing to be guilty for." Faramir agreed but otherwise said nothing more "and what of Legolas?" for a long time Faramir again said nothing. He was aware of the friendship between Legolas and Gimli, but just as he opened his mouth to reply Gandalf appeared by their side

"Are you both alright from the struggle?" he asked them, they both nodded

"Do you have any idea of what Saruman's plans are?" asked Gimli

"We can understand very little of what he wishes to do" replied Gandalf "we have nothing to go on, except that it has something to do with Legolas. This alone would lead me to the conclusion that he needs an immortal for something. It is hard to guess however. I would not wish to make the wrong choice and have someone suffer for my folly."

"So what is our next move?" Aikanaro was just about to reply when they heard a commotion from the surrounding Elves as those who could began to hurry towards the gates. Enelya passed by them "Yrch!" she cried out to them as she ran.

At the gates a small group of Orcs were standing just out of range. The laughed together and gestured obscenely at the Elves from where they were. Aikanaro strode to the front of the gate and climbed up onto it, his every movement full of grace and power. He called downwards "How did they find us?" his voice was filled with fury, but not towards the Elves. Enelya spoke up, her fury seeming at least equal to his

"Theses Yrch must have followed us!" she remembered Taurnil and was ready to wreak any revenge she could for his slaughter. "We must destroy them before they betray our position!"

"It is too late for that!" said Gandalf "A small group have already broken away, and look! They must have a task to do as they do not attack." He spoke true and just at that moment one of he Orcs threw something towards them. It spun over the gate and landed at Enelya's feet. She gave a cry of rage and horror. It was the head of Taurnil. At that moment, more and more heads began to fly. Heads from those who were lost on the battlefield. Cries of pain and disgust were heard from all over the place. Mother's finding sons, husbands finding wives, lovers finding their partner. It was truly terrible. Many of the Elves were enraged and would have run out if Gandalf and Aikanaro had not swiftly regained command

"Wait! You will gain your just revenge, but not now!" cried Aiakanaro

"Do you wish to be destroyed before you have a chance to fight? Who knows how many of the creatures lie in wait in the woods! It is a trap!" Gandalf's words had the desired effect and most of the Elves calmed from a blazing fury to a quiet seething wrath. Faramir, Gimli, Sam and Merry had all struggled to understand most of what was going on as most of the exchange had been in Elvish, but they had understood well enough when the heads had came over the wall. That had to be an act of War. Nienna looked at them sadly

"Who would have thought our new forest home could have come to this?" they had no answer for her and all the present members of the Fellowship felt a burning guilt as it had been them which had involved the Elves in this. Soon, Faramir left them to sit with Eowyn and most of the others went to sleep. But Gandalf and Aikanaro went to council with some handpicked Elves.

They sat in a circle and Gandalf was strongly reminded of the day the Fellowship had first formed. Much had happened since then. Aikanaro stood

"What happened today was an atrocity and most definitely an act of War. I know from earlier speech with many of you that you would openly storm the tower." He paused "I have decided against open War." There was small outcry at this, but most of those present could see that open War was impossible without aid that could never arrive in time. "That is not to say that we shall not gain revenge! Saruman must be destroyed! He has lived too long. He has desecrated our homes too long. Subtlety is the key. Gandalf is the only one among us with the power to defeat Saruman head on, so he must get into Orthanc." Gandalf stood and bowed

"I would be honoured to go against Saruman, and indeed I will, but I need more time. In the battle in which the Fellowship were captured my staff was broken and I know not where it is. I need time to build a new one."

"But time is a luxury we are short of." Stated a young Elf fearfully. At that moment the door banged opened and Gimli entered carrying something.

"Gandalf! When you were captured, I returned to the battlefield afterwards to see what had occurred. I found your staff. I heard them say that you would need it and only just remembered it, but I am afraid it is broken." Gandalf's old face broke into a bright smile at this

"This is good news indeed!" said Aikanaro "Our craftsmen have the power to mend this for you." Gandalf nodded and returned to his seat. Gimli turned to leave but Aikanaro bid him stay

"That is one of our more troubling issues dealt with. But we now have another few issues. We need to infiltrate Orthanc and Gandalf will also need some protection while he is fighting Saruman, no one can fight on all sides. I would hear your thoughts on this."

"I say we storm the Tower as you suggested earlier!" this was the young Elf once more, but Nienna spoke over him

"You cannot think to openly attack again? You would be a fool to suggest any such thing. Saruman would wipe us out. There is only one way to deal with this. Gandalf must pretend that he is weakened and alone. The Orcs will take him."

"And what of protecting him once inside?" asked Larien interestedly, her pale eyebrows rising as she considered

"If he managed to hide his staff he could escape his prison and open the doors for us when he is ready." Cried Maeglin excitedly "We would sit and wait for a signal that would only be known to us and then when Mithrandir opened the door we would be able to enter!"

"It would take a lot of difficult and careful planning to ensure we were not discovered" said Larien

"I believe" said Aikanaro "that we have a least something to go on. We will meet again tomorrow eve to finish our plans but during the time in between we shall reforge Gandalf's sword." The others agreed and they swiftly finished the gathering.

High in Saruman's tower the small remaining captive group of the Fellowship shivered in the rain. It was freezing. Pippin sneezed miserably as water dripped from his nose. He was exhausted, but it was impossible to sleep in the rain. They had all been confident in the beginning of their strength, but as the endless rain came down upon them in sheets and they did not eat or sleep, it would have worn down anyone's resolve. Legolas' fingers had taken on a distinctly greenish hue, but he had not allowed Aragorn to see them and tried to ignore the deep, aching pain that was running through his whole arm. Suddenly the rain stopped. They gazed around surprised, surely Saruman had not decided to try and make them more comfortable. Their confusion was soon abated. A crack like a whip sounded and Saruman appeared next to them

"How are my most honoured guests feeling today then?" he asked mockingly. As usual they ignored him. "I seem to have lost some of my other guests that I invited. So rude of them to leave like that. At least I still have you three to make up for it." It was impossible to ignore the veiled threat in his words, abruptly, Saruman ceased his game "I wish for some information this night and I care not how long it takes. You will give me what I want."

"Very confident for one who has already lost half his prisoners!" said Legolas with a smirk. Aragorn inwardly groaned. Legolas was going to get all of them killed. Saruman walked right up to the Elf. He lifted up his injured hand and Aragorn stopped himself from gasping. He had no idea how the Elf had coped with having his hand in that state.

"You had better watch that hand; otherwise you will never be able to use your pretty bow again." Legolas' eyes narrowed to slits. Saruman dropped his hand and then, before Legolas could move it, stepped on it with his heel. Legolas gasped, he tried to cry out but the pain was too great for even that. Pippin averted his eyes. Saruman walked away towards Aragorn, he pulled out a dagger and Aragorn flinched, but Saruman simply laughed and slit the bonds that held him and dragged the man to his feet. Aragorn backed away from Saruman as soon as he was free. He was no coward, but neither was he a fool. He looked behind him and noticed the edge of the tower behind him. Suddenly he felt his limbs freeze. He tried to move, but found he could not even speak. He felt his body lift up of the ground and hover over the edge. Saruman looked to be enjoying himself watching Aragorn the king of Gondor dangling off the side. He heard Legolas give a curse in Elvish and saw the Elf struggle with his bonds. Pippin gave a loud cry and he too fought his ropes

"Let him down!" he called angrily at Saruman, his little face wet with tears

"As you wish." Said Saruman, Legolas spotted what was to happen a second before it did

"No!" Saruman released his hold on Aragorn and the man dropped down towards the ground.

**Slinks out from hiding place Don't kill me! It's only a little cliffie! He might not die…then again he might. Now I see why authors love cliffhangers. Cya all next chapter: R and R! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi all! Sorry about the wait, writers block took hold, that's why this chapters kinda short. I didn't want to leave Aragorn hanging there any longer!**

**Disclaimer: I've been told I don't own LOTR by many people. As much as I would like to ignore them they outnumber me!**

**Chapter 12**

Aragorn gasped as he felt his fingers clutch blindly at the side of the tower. He was no longer falling, but his hold was tenuous and slipping. He swung and tried to get a better grip and felt his stomach drop as he saw the fall below. Saruman looked down at him, Aragorn allowed his wish for life to overcome all his pride

"Help!" he called out to Saruman. Surprisingly, Saruman reached down and grasped his wrist, but he did not pull him up

"So, the Greatest King of Men would call for my assistance?" Saruman swung his staff around and Aragorn landed hard back upon the ground. He gasped in pain and fear as he glanced around, just glad to be alive. But Saruman's bloodlust would not be so easily sated. He kicked Aragorn hard in the chest and the man gasped as pain flared up in his chest. He pulled himself to his feet leaning on one of the pillars and turned to face Saruman

"We will never give in to you Saruman! You are corrupted and you will be destroyed."

"Then." Said Saruman, a dark light glittering in his eyes "You will die!" Saruman waved his hand and three Orcs appeared carrying a dark black box in the shape of a coffin. They set the box down and then they untied Pippin and Legolas who swiftly moved to stand with Aragorn. "But, at least I shall have a chance to enjoy my last few moments. The others are inconsequential now." At his words the Orcs walked straight up to Aragorn. The leader kicked Pippin out of the way while the other restrained Legolas. The two unoccupied Orcs faced Aragorn. They drew out their weapons; spiked maces, short daggers and clubs. Aragorn made to back away and then changed his mind. He was through with this. He spun his leg around and tripped the first Orc, grabbing its weapon as it fell. He turned to face the second Orc which growled threateningly at him. Aragorn spun his newfound club around and it contacted hard with the metal of the Orcs mace. The wood began to splinter and Aragorn had to duck swiftly in order to avoid being decapitated. But the Orc behind him took advantage of his occupation and grabbed his arm. It spun him around to face it and then twisted his wrist. Aragorn cried out in pain and dropped the weapon. The two Orcs laughed and wrestled him to the ground.

"Aragorn!" cried Legolas, he pushed and hit at the Orc holding him but it was nearly twice the height and width of him. Pippin crawled back towards them clutching his chest where he had been kicked, but Saruman grabbed him by his collar and yanked him away. Aragorn was hidden from view for a few moments by the Orcs and Legolas heard a cry from him. The Orcs dispersed and both Legolas and Pippin gasped as they saw Aragorn clutch at his side where blood was gushing through his fingers. Legolas wrestled again against the Orc whose clawed fingers were digging hard into his arms. Saruman stepped over Aragorn and walked up to Legolas

"Would you not wish to end your friends suffering by telling me what I wish to know?" Legolas paled a little, he looked at Aragorn who shook his head before closing his eyes in agony

"Fine." Said Saruman he pointed and the two Orcs left Aragorn and picked up the box.

Legolas tried to move quickly away from Saruman, but the Orc placed a knife at his back. He would not give in to this epitome of evil. Saruman sent out tendrils of power which coiled themselves around the Elf like ropes. Legolas stood rigid. All he could do was wait to see what Saruman had in store for him. He was pulled towards the black box and Legolas did not have to think hard to guess what was coming next. The box was small with a hinged door which the Orcs threw open. Saruman used his hold and began to drag Legolas towards the box. Legolas used all of his strength to try and slow himself. He tried to dig his heels in, but Saruman just lifted him higher so he drifted along the ground. He was released facing the box. All he knew at that point was that he could not and would not go into that coffin shaped _thing. _Aragorn watched his friend with growing fear. Legolas was badly claustrophobic and would struggle to cope with the box. Legolas still tried to resist Saruman, he would not even look at the box and he was muttering "No. No. No." he shook his head as if by doing so he could save himself from this fate.

"Is there anything you would like to say to me first Elf?" asked Saruman, Legolas could not miss the option that Saruman thought he would give up the information that was wished simply because of fear.

"Utinu en Lokrim!" snapped Legolas, Aragorn shook his head then shuddered as his head spun, while Pippin just looked confused

"No?" said Saruman "Then I believe I have no other choice in what to do next!" The Orcs grabbed Legolas and threw him forwards. Legolas cried out in pain as his fingers were jarred again. Saruman was not in a good mood today. As soon as he was inside Saruman began to close the door, but before it was fully closed he whispered to Legolas

"Try not to breathe too much." Legolas shuddered, then the door was slammed and he was plunged into darkness.

First Legolas pushed against the door and sides. It would not open. Saruman had locked it. He tried to see through the penetrating darkness, but there was nothing to see. The blackness was complete. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the feeling of being closed in. But he found it nearly impossible to ignore, he could feel the sides of the box rubbing against his shoulders and shivers racked him. He drew in slow deep breaths. He was not going to die like this _But do I have a choice?_ he wandered, the confined space was horrible. He jerked uncontrollably, trying to escape the sides and as he did he simply banged into the other side. _How deep was Aragorn's wound?_he wandered, a wound like that could be potentially fatal. He shuddered, if Aragorn died, a part of him would be lost as well. The blackness was so deep _What would Ada think if he saw this? _Thoughts span round his head. Dark thoughts _Perhaps he should have never joined the Fellowship. Perhaps he should simply give the information required. _Legolas froze, these thoughts were not his. Saruman was in his head. The air in the box was swiftly becoming stale, he tried not to panic but his lungs were crying out for more air. _Mirkwood would fall_. Whose thoughts were these? His own? Saruman's? _The trees would be felled and nothing green would last! _He began to gasp for air, air that was not there. Memories swirled around him, memories that were quickly twisted. _He was running around the palace gardens as a small child with his friends, they were playing tag, laughter was everywhere. Suddenly everything changed. The green grass withered, the spiders appeared, spinning their webs. They grabbed the children and began to rip them apart limb from limb. _Legolas tried opening his eyes to escape, but he could still see everything _blood covered the grounds. _Were his eyes really open? It was so dark. A far deeper blackness threatened to close in upon him, his starved lungs cried out for air and Legolas began to drop to his knees, but there was not enough room. The walls closed in around him.

"Ada!" he cried as he slipped away from consciousness, the door open and he fell forwards. He landed hard upon the ground and did not move.

Saruman laughed "Did you dislike that little experience Elf? Well you have to face your fear sometime or other!" Legolas remained where he was, just breathing and enjoying the renewed life. Pippin crouched next to Aragorn, trying to stop the bleeding with his cloak and his round face was full of horror

"How could you?" he cried "You…you…evil…" but he could not think of words terrible enough to describe his feeling towards Saruman. Saruman leered down at him

"Do you want a turn of your own to the Elf's fate then?" Pippin froze and said no more but Saruman walked towards him anyway "You have escaped my wrath long enough!"

**R and R! I update fast with more reviews!**

**Medilia: I didn't kill him! See! Now how about you put the nice sword away? **


	13. Chapter 13

**Well hello all my lovely readers. I'm enjoying writing this fic so much! I never expected to get so much response. I'm so happy because all you wonderful people got me past the forty review mark! Aren't you all special? Hands out Easter eggs to all Anyway, here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything remotely linked to LOTR except my books and a huge poster of Orlando Bloom (and a few random Elves in this fic) **

**Chapter 13**

Faramir held Eowyn's hand tightly within his own. He was determined to be the one who was there when she awoke. Her golden hair lay splayed out along the pillow and thick white bandaging surrounded her chest, but for all that her breathing was even and some of the colour had come back to her face. All that Faramir was worried about for now was how in Arda he was to keep her bedridden until such times as the Elven healers said that she was able to walk. They had assured him that they would help him persuade her to follow his instructions. He sighed, he would need it! She never listened to him most of the time without some form of tussle. He heard a door creak and Gandalf entered, taking a seat next to Faramir

"How does she fare?" he asked, examining Eowyn with the critical eye of a healer

"Well." Said Faramir "The healers say that she will make a full recovery, if we can only keep her from leaving as soon as soon as she is awake." Gandalf nodded "And what of our friends who are still in the foul clutches of Saruman? Have the scouts reported anything?"

"It is difficult to say as the Elves cannot really enter Orthanc, we have had a couple of reports saying that Saruman is sending patrols of Orcs out every sixth hour but we have heard nothing of those inside. Aikanaro begins to fear for them I think. Several scout parties have disappeared. But come, I did not join you to be the bearer of bad news. I was sent here by a large group who claim that you must eat!" knowing that there was no possible way of resisting Gandalf, Faramir rose to his feet and trailed after the Wizard sending back one long glance over his shoulder at Eowyn who still slept peacefully.

Faramir and Gandalf took seats at the high table with their fellow travellers and the Elves that took upon themselves the position of leadership, Aikanaro among them. All those gathered nodded respectfully at them. Gimli smiled at Faramir but the man noticed that his smile was strained and the Hobbits had not even attempted a greeting. The fear for their friends was set very deeply. As soon as they saw Gandalf all three Hobbits began to accost him with questions, but Aikanaro held up a hand

"Friends, allow us to enjoy what is likely to be a last meal for some. We shall talk of your companions after. We should not further darken the hearts of those who mourn here." The Hobbits nodded and said not more and even Gimli did not argue the issue, but all were impatiently waiting until Aikanaro finished the last morsel on his plate. The lesser Elves filed out and left them to discuss. Aikanaro addressed the group

"We have had many reports over the last few days from our numerous scout parties. They seem, however, to have very little news to impart to us. Saruman knows where we are now. We have only one chance to save ourselves and those who Saruman still holds captive. Gandalf is willing to do this and he shall set off as soon as hi staff is complete, which should be very soon." Faramir and many of the others started at this, they were fearful for Gandalf, but no one spoke out against it. They were all fearful for Aragorn and the others safety and understood the situation. Seeing that none had any questions or differing opinions Aikanaro continued "If Gandalf fails we only have two choices and these are to attack Saruman openly and die honourably or we flee." Enelya stood, anger showed clearly in every line of her face

"This is the options that you have mapped out for us? To die or to act as cowards? I think not. Gandalf will not fail. Even if he were to fail we would fight and we would win!" several of the group looked at her in shock as she snapped at Aikanaro furiously. He however only smiled at her

"No matter what, we must plan for all occurrences, Enelya. You cannot say what will happen definitely until the moment it happens." Enelya nodded and sat down and they continued to discuss. Gandalf soon stood up however

"As important as this is, I must leave to try and do my part in this battle." And before any of the others could stop him he swept from the room. He did not have time for farewells.

Gandalf walked quickly down to the forges where the Elves were trying to repair his staff. Time. Time was what he needed, and time was what he had none of. If he could have, he would have spent a long time repairing his staff properly but he would have to settle for what could be done in a day. As he neared the forges, a young Elf child came towards him

"Mithrandir, we have done what we can for you and hope that it will be enough!" the child was nearly shaking with excitement at the prospect of speaking with him. Gandalf nodded, trying to avoid laughing at the boys' cheerfulness in the middle of a battlefield. He followed the child down to the forges and several exhausted looking Elves greeted him

"We have worked through the night for you Mithrandir" he held out the staff "Here is your staff and we are all proud to have assisted." Gandalf smiled and received the staff

"Thank you for all your assistance today." He said, he bowed once to them and then walked away to begin what he had to.

Gandalf slipped out silently. He intended to return and did not want the added burden of his friends demanding to aid him. He smiled grimly. This was something he had to do alone. None of the others would understand his plan. He walked along the path until he heard the sound that all who had ever tracked Orcs knew. The sound of a group of Orcs trying not to be heard. Slowly and obviously, he turned and pretended to hurry behind a tree, making sure the Orcs could see the end of his robes disappearing. This was his plan. He would get himself caught, and if the foolish Orcs believed that he had been trying to avoid them then Saruman would suspect nothing. Leaving him to save his friends and let Saruman think he had won for a short time. If he had not been pretending to be hiding Gandalf might have laughed. Stupid Orcs, thinking they could catch a wizard if he did not wish to be caught. He heard a group of the brutes whispering gleefully together in what they clearly thought were quiet voices. It was time.

Aragorn gasped and clutched at his side. He was losing blood fast. He tried desperately to sit up and assist Pippin, but as soon as he got anywhere a fresh wave of pain assaulted him. He looked over at Legolas, hoping that the Elf would be able to help Pippin, but Legolas was still trying to breathe. Saruman shook Pippin angrily

"Foolish little rat! Do not attempt to defy me!" he pulled back his arm ready to cast a spell and Pippins' eyes sparkled with tears, yet the brave Hobbit still would not utter a sound. He flew back suddenly and slammed into a pillar, held there by Sarumans' spell. Pippin cried out in fear. He did not like heights at the best of times. Aragorn tried again to get up but blood loss was beginning to make him dizzy. Legolas however pushed himself to his feet. He was still gasping for air, but Pippin's cry of terror had torn his heart. He threw himself at Saruman who lost concentration and allowed Pippin to slide down. Pippin ran to Aragorn and desperately tried to staunch his bleeding

"Va!" cried Legolas as he tackled Saruman who fell backwards, landing on top of Legolas. Legolas screamed in pain as his already damaged bones slammed into the ground. Saruman got up first and the Orcs dragged Legolas over to Aragorn and Pippin. He then waved his hand and seven more Orcs appeared

"I have other matters to attend to, but I shall leave you in the excellent company of my good friends." He turned to go and then as if on second thought turned round and pointed his staff at Aragorn, who flinched, but instead of pain he felt the blood flow slightly lessen "Well I can't have you dying on me before I am ready, can I?" and with that he disappeared.

The Orcs turned to smile at the three of them. Pippin trembled as he saw that they all carried some form of dangerous looking weapon. Legolas turned to Aragorn and whispered

"Can you stand?"

"I think so."

"If you defend Pippin I will attack some of them when they come towards us." Aragorn looked at Legolas in horror

"Don't be a fool! You are in no condition to fight!"

"And you are?" the Orcs began to walk towards them "Do as I say!" for once Aragorn obeyed and he got slowly to his feet and stood in front of Pippin while Legolas balanced himself. The largest Orc leaned towards them and began to draw its sword, but Legolas faster. Quicker was than Pippin could follow, he leapt forward and hit the Orc in the face. The Orcs nose gushed with blood and it dived at Legolas furiously. Ignoring his pain, Legolas dodged it. Aragorn was full of fear. Legolas would tear open all his wounds at this rate but there had been no time to argue with him. An Orc came towards him and Pippin and he kicked out at it. They were all fighting hard, but they were outnumbered. Soon, most of the Orcs were trying to get to Pippin. Seeing this, Legolas turned and began to hurry back to Aragorn, but in his haste he did not see the Orc behind him pulling out a whip. It cracked the whip and it curled around Legolas' ankle, pulling him to the ground. Three Orcs immediately surrounded him and began systematically beating him. One grabbed his hair and started to hit him about the face and neck, another used a tiny dagger to stab him over and over again while the third one kept using a whip. Aragorn stopped fighting the Orcs when he heard Legolas scream. He was exhausted and feverish from his wound but was forcing himself on anyway. There was no way Pippin could defend himself against full grown Uruk Hai like these. He cast his eyes around for the Elf and saw him hit the ground hard. Three Orcs took advantage of his distraction and leapt for him. The fight was over by this point. The Orcs took great pleasure in beating and stabbing their captives. Two were with Pippin, three were with Aragorn but Legolas was worst off with five attacking him at once, infuriated by the presence of a hated Elf. Soon, all of them gave themselves over to blissful unconsciousness.

Saruman grinned happily as he paced his chamber once more, Grima looked (if it was possible) more frightened by the prospect of a cheerful Saruman than of an angry one.

"The Elves of Fangorn will fall fast I suspect! Gandalf has left them it appears."

"Can we trust that it is not a trick?" asked Grima in a trembling voice

"No. But there is not much he can do now. Not so close to the completion of our plans!" Grima shuddered; even he had been appalled by Sarumans' terrible plan "Also, he moves as if he does not wish to be seen according to the scout reports. His plan must revolve around not being caught. Things should hopefully fall apart once we have him. He will be a useful addition to the completion of my experiment."

"It could be a trick master! Surely Gandalf the White is not fool enough to be found when he does not want to be." Grima took a deep breathe and forced himself to continue "After all, he bested you in the War." He said this last part almost inaudibly, but Saruman heard. A feline smile graced his features

"Yes, he bested me once. He shall never do so again. His friends here are tokens to cause his good behaviour."

"What of the prisoners? They surely cannot remain alive much longer!"

"They will remain alive for as long as I wish them to be so. Indeed, after my Orcs are finished with them they might have rather a tenuous grip on that life. Especially the Elf. For some reason my Orcs do not seem to like him!" Saruman laughed " Finally, when you find Lathspell, bring him directly to me." He left the room and after a time so did Grima. How he wished to be free of Saruman!

Pippin was the first to awaken. He tried to crack his eyes open but found they were stuck shut with blood. Gingerly he reached up and wiped it away, wincing when he felt a painful, swollen eye. He slowly slid into a sitting position before checking himself over for injuries. Most of his body was bruised and his ankle would not take any of his weight but he seemed to be alive. He glanced around and smothered back a scream when he saw Aragorn and Legolas. They seemed to have fared much worse than he. Both were still unconscious and blood covered. Aragorn was lying face down, with blood trickling from many lacerations and slashes all over his body and the deep knife wound still bled. Legolas however, seemed to have fared worst of all. He was lying on his front and his eyes were glassy. His hand with the broken fingers seemed unrecognisable as a hand and his left leg was bent at a strange angle. Whip marks covered the upper half of his body and from what Pippin could see through the tears in his tunic his front was darkly bruised. He too was covered in blood and his breathing was slow and unsteady. Pippin shivered, he was tired and he didn't know how to deal with their wounds, nor did he know if he could even manage to walk over. He gathered what was left of his cloak to him and watched as night enveloped Arda.

**Well, R and R and keep reading! Happy Easter!**

**Medilia: pats tentatively on the shoulder um… you can have him when I'm done with him, kay? He might be a little bruised though…**


	14. Chapter 14

**Look who's back! Me! How is everyone doing? I for one had a great Easter. There's never normally any sun where I live and lo and behold there it was! Sunshine! Anyway, I'll shut up about me now. Sorry about the shortness (and the lateness) of this chapter but it was an essential chapter and there wasn't much else I could do. I think there's only another couple of chapters left in this but if anyone has any suggestions for something else to happen let me know! **

**Disclaimer: I wished I owned LOTR once. Nobody listened**

When he awoke the next morning Pippin was again horrified to see the terrible state that the Orcs had left his friends in. He crawled slowly along towards them, dragging his ankle along. He decided to go to Aragorn first because the man was the closer and because it looked like there was more that could be done for him. He grasped Aragorn's hand tightly in his little fist

"Aragorn! Aragorn! Wake up!" still no movement came from Aragorn, Pippin felt a icy chill flower in his heart and grip it with fingers of fear "Don't leave me alone here." This was no more than a whisper, but perhaps it had some effect because Aragorn groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Immediately he put a hand to his head

"Pippin…" he seemed to think for a while before continuing "Are we alone now? Where is Legolas?"

"He's over there, Aragorn, he looks really sick!" Pippin was plainly terrified for his companion. Aragorn immediately tried to sit up, but fell backwards as his wounds screamed at him. "I think you might need to tend to yourself first…" said Pippin slowly, Aragorn sighed

"With what Pippin? I doubt Saruman bothered to leave us any equipment." He tried again to sit up and this time succeeded. He touched the knife wound in his side and grimaced. Pippin immediately handed him his cloak and Aragorn wordlessly began to bandage his side. He knew better than to refuse aid when he had an injury as serious as this. Now Aragorn looked at Legolas, his face paled when he beheld the state of his friend "I have seen my companions injured before, but never so gravely as this. What Saruman has done is despicable!"

"Did someone call me?" asked a voice, as Saruman appeared at the opposite side of the tower from them. They glared at him with a burning hatred which he ignored "Nice to see you awake!" Saruman looked at Legolas who was still upon the ground "Oh, it seems that our poor Elf is dying. Someone should probably help him." Pippin and Aragorn adopted to ignore Saruman and did not reply. Saruman sighed, irritated that once again his little game to annoy them had failed. He snapped his fingers and a large bowl of water appeared on the ground next to Aragorn. "Make sure none of you die!" he snapped and then left them. Appropriately Legolas chose this moment to awaken. He moaned softly as the world swam before his eyes, slowly he concentrated and everything came back into focus. Pippin crawled over to him while Aragorn took the bowl of water so he could begin to tend to his own injuries, knowing that he would be of no use to the others if he could not move.

Pippin touched Legolas' shoulder and the Elf managed a smile at him

"Pippin" he slurred, blood dripping from his mouth with every word "Are you alright?" Pippin looked at him and laughed, Legolas blinked in confusion, but Aragorn understood Pippin's amusement

"Do not worry, master Hobbit. Legolas always ignores his own injuries. I sometimes think he enjoys pain." He laughed a little too, but stopped quickly when he saw Legolas' eyes cloud over in pain again. He quickly finished his bandaging then moved to Legolas' side. Even Aragorn, mighty King and legendary Healer hated dealing with these wounds. The rag he was using was quickly drenched with the Elf's blood and Legolas soon dropped back into blackness. Pippin could not even watch. He turned away and used a little of the water to cleanse his cuts. Luckily for them, there would be no "sessions" with Saruman or his Orcs that day.

Aikanaro and his fellow Elves were still in council. They had been so for a long time with only a short amount of time for them to gain rest. Indeed many of the Elves were coming to dislike the council room intensely and they shuddered as they entered it again after only four hours of sleep (which is a difficult amount of sleep to loose, even for Elves.) The Hobbits were not enjoying it any better but they were ready to put themselves through anything in order to aid their friends. Faramir on the other hand was only just coming to the council. Eowyn was doing incredibly well and the healers were becoming hard put to keep her in her bed, so naturally they had called _him_, again, assuming for some reason that Eowyn would listen to him. He was in fact surprised they had called him again after the fiasco the last time he had tried to instruct her. Most of the healers had been shocked it. Faramir felt a tiny smile pull at the edges of his lips. Eowyn had listened to him only once since they had got married and that was because he was agreeing with her. He entered the room and took his seat in between Gimli and Merry and the council began.

Two hours later Faramir could see what the Hobbits had been complaining about. The talks were endless. He nearly laughed as he heard Gimli sigh slightly in his sleep, but just managed to keep a straight face. The Elf, Nienna was standing

"I know we fought the Orcs already, but it was a distraction! We weren't actually attempting to win. This is our chance. While they are gravely weakened we should attack." Unusually it was Enelya who was arguing with her at this point while others chipped in on both sides

"So what if they are weakened. We are weakened too! If we attack them there is every chance that we would be destroyed!"

"Not if we planned carefully." Said Amrod quietly, his dark eyes wide with hope. "We must defeat this menace while we still can. If not he will hunt us out. Also, the Orcs cannot cause Gandalf trouble if they are fighting us."

"We would have to fight strongly with so few of us." Said Larien doubtfully

"But think what we could achieve!" Amrod spoke encouragingly and Larien began to nod. Frodo looked up in surprise, how had they gone from most of the council being against a fight to the majority planning provisions and battle attacks? Aikanaro looked around at them

"Very well, it has come to a point where we must vote. I would ask you to raise your hands if you wish to fight." Out of the twenty-five present twelve hands went up. Faramir looked at Gimli in confusion as he had not raised his hand. Biting back a groan he stepped heavily on the Dwarfs foot and whispered

"Raise your hand if you wish to fight, you incorrigible creature!" swiftly Gimli shoved his hand into the air and managed to make himself look as if he understood simultaneously. Aikanaro counted the hands

"Thirteen. Ready the army. All who wish to join us may." He stood and marched from the table turning back only to say "We travel as soon as the moon appears."

Gandalf did not move from behind his tree. The Orcs were coming fast. He whispered a quick spell for invisibility on his staff "Quella tuulo' elea" and then drew his sword, although he was not planning on using it to much he had to put on a show. The Orcs streamed in to surround his hiding place. One stepped forward

"Surrender Wizard!" it cried

"No." said Gandalf calmly before sliding his sword across its throat. The Orc crumpled and the others drew out their weapons. Gandalf sighed to himself. The Orcs were never the brightest of creatures. He killed four or five of them before allowing two of them to hook their swords under his and yank his weapon away from him. They never saw the invisible staff leaning on the tree. Another Orc came towards him, more cautiously than the other Gandalf noted. This one might be more intelligent and therefore more dangerous.

"You will come with us, Greybeard." Gandalf nodded and the Orcs moved towards him. In a movement faster than their eyes could perceive he grabbed his staff from the oak tree and began to walk. The Orcs shrugged to themselves and followed. In their foolish little minds they were sure Saruman would reward them for their victory.

**Well, you've all put up with me this far, pretty please review. They make my day! Plus the extra action will be here sooner.**

Quella tuulo' elea basically, it means: Invisibilty 

**Richard Starkey: I can be pretty evil can't I? Lol. People tell me this a lot, maybe I should be worried.**


	15. Chapter 15

Wow! I'm quite proud of this chapter if I do say so myself. There's quite a lot going on. I'm sad to say that this is the beginning of the climax. I'll probably only get another four chapters out of this and then it'll be over…My first ever Fanfiction! Sniffles Also, we cleared 60 reviews! That is so amazing and I love you all! One more thing, I have shows with my drama the rest of this week and then I'm moving house so I don't know how long will be between my next posts. I'll be as soon as I can!

Disclaimer: Me: But I wan' it!

Man at Tolkein Society: You cant have it, remove your tent and protest signs and go away!

Me: Fine!

Aragorn sat silently, watching his two companions sleep. He studied Legolas carefully. The Elf was much to pale through lack of sleep, food and blood loss. As the Elf's eyes stared unblinkingly ahead Aragorn made up his mind that he truly hated the way Elves slept. It was frankly scary for someone to stare at you without seeing. Aragorn sighed and let his mind drift. So much had happened. How long would it be before he saw his family again? _If _he ever saw them again. He wanted to go home desperately, not that he would ever speak it aloud. Everyone wanted to go home. They were so worried about the fate of the others. Saruman would never tell them what had occurred. They knew better even to try and find out. If any one of them declared any weakness then Saruman would exploit it in less than a second. The tower seemed all of a sudden to small for anything. He heard a loud snap and smothered a groan. Saruman was back.

Saruman surveyed the captives before him. The Orcs had not been lenient in their work. Only the man was awake. He stepped over the Elf, making sure to lick him in the ribs as he went and then stood before Aragorn. He smiled a grin that would have made an oliphant turn and head the other way

"Get up." Aragorn looked up at him and allowed a thoughtful expression to ride his features

"Why?"

"I do not have time for your uselessness man! Do as I say or I will kill the Hobbit." Aragorn looked at Saruman in shock. The Wizard was evil, yes, but he was never normally so direct with threats. What could have put him in such a hurry? He spared a glance at Pippin who had awoken and was watching in disgust. He stood.

"Good. Now stand there." Saruman went over to Legolas and dragged the Elf to his feet "You too. The final stage of my designs are beginning!" Legolas fought to stay on his feet as waves of nausea engulfed him but succeeded as Saruman told Pippin to join them standing. Aragorn felt fear grip him inside. What was to come next? All this pain and it looked like it was about to end in some drastic manner. Saruman lifted his staff and muttered something inaudible. Multicoloured lights flashed before everyone's eyes and the group disappeared from the tower.

Hidden deep within the grasses of the plains, and Orc scout crouched. He heard the sound of singing in Elvish and swiftly covered its ears. What walked into his vision next nearly made it flee. Elves! Thousands of them marched from Fangorn! They marched as swift as their tireless feet would carry them towards Isenguard. They would be defeated and all their designs destroyed! But…the though came slowly to the Orc…The Master surely had planned for this. The Orc grinned to itself. Sharky would sort out these Elves and they would feast tonight on flesh! Perhaps he did not know though? The Orc that reported to him would be richly rewarded. An insane sense of urgency gripped the Orc and he got up and ran, forgetting about the Elvish sight. An arrow whizzed through the air and the Orc fell dead with a blue-feathered arrow in its throat. The company marched on.

Legolas, Aragorn and Pippin fell to their knees as they landed hard upon the stone floor. They had no idea where they were. There were no windows and only one door that was bolted shut, most likely helped along by magic. Everything was made of stone. Legolas' eyes penetrated the darkness first. There was moisture and moss on the walls indicating that they were deep below the ground, and that the room had not used in many years. He gave a start as he noticed a huge alter in the centre of the room. Blood stained the top in places and evil emanated from it. Saruman smiled at the assembled group as he spun to a much more leisurely stop in the room.

"I suppose the time has now come for you to know my plans. You will see them in action very soon anyway, although you will not be able to see it for very long." His words left them in no doubt about why exactly they would not see much of his plans. They were all too weak to fight him, so for now they merely listened "Years ago, when I first began to serve the great Lord Sauron" they shuddered at the name "He gave me a great reward in exchange for my services. I had the power that, if I was brutally slaughtered, then I would be able to return to this Arda. During the War…" here he looked at Pippin "… you foolish little Hobbits made sure that this occurred. You did not plan for my having powers far beyond your reckoning. So long as a single ash of me remained I could return. I could also bring others back with me."

"Grima!" spat Aragorn

"You brought him back as a slave. This is low even for you Saruman!" snapped Legolas, Pippin remained silent even though fury was kindling in his eyes

"I returned, and my first thought was to gain revenge upon those who had caused all my misery. But then, I considered, there must be ways to get the revenge I craved but also make some profit to myself. I retuned to the old texts I had studied. While I was in Gondor before the ring was found I brought some of them back with me, without Denethor knowing of course. The old fool was too caught up in his older son to understand that anything of literature could be of value. I read those texts, the forbidden ones that had not been read for many an age. I read things in there that horrified even me. But I also found great spells. I learned to call forth a spirit. An essence of the spirit of-"

"Why are you telling us this?" interrupted Pippin, Saruman leant down close to him

"Because little Hobbit, I want you to fully understand the extent of my revenge. This spirit that I will call will take you, and as a reward for returning him, he will serve me! You see? All I have to do is take your blood and he will come. The three companions gazed at him in horror. None of them dared think who Saruman would bring back from the Netherworlds. Even Pippin realised that he did not want to know. Saruman smiled at them again

"All that remains is to begin!"

The Orc guard marched into Orthanc at speed, bringing Gandalf with them. The Wizard had barely spoken the entire trip, but the Orcs did not know that this was because he was concentrating on holding a spell. A spell to hide his means of defeating them to be specific. Gandalf hid a smile behind his beard as he approached the doors of Orthanc. This had been almost too easy. The Orcs had been only too happy to offer him an escort to the tower. As soon as he was inside he would destroy the entire group. He almost regretted it, for the Elves these Orcs had once been, but they had to be destroyed. Gandalf assumed Aikanaro would not let the Orcs treatment of his Elves go unpunished either. Likely as not there would be a great host of Elves following behind them and his friends would be within it. He sighed to himself. Eowyn would probably procured herself a position within the army as well, although Aikanaro did not mind the female Elves fighting Eowyn was still wounded and she should be resting. He chuckled to himself, poor Faramir would be having a miserable time trying to keep her within the confines of the forest.

The Orcs put on a great pace. Although they were tired, they were determined to show Saruman their prize. They were certain he would reward them richly. That _was _what he had told them after all, and Saruman wouldn't lie to them! They hurried the Wizard on still faster, not knowing that they rushed to their dooms.

The doors of the great tower flew open and the Orc rushed in, pulling Gandalf with them. As soon as the doors closed Gandalf pulled away from his guards.

"You are about to discover that you have been tricked. It would be wiser if you did not run." The Orcs looked at him in surprise, their slow minds taking their time about translating what he had said. One of the quicker Orcs stepped forward

"Do not be a fool Wizard. You cannot fight all of us unarmed. Saruman will hear of this!"

"Ah" said Gandalf "But I am not unarmed." At that moment he spoke the words to reverse the spell upon his staff and whirled it through the air. The Orcs were dead before they realised what had happened. Gandalf sighed and looked down the long corridor. It was going to take a while before he could find Saruman alone. But luck was with him. At that moment he heard a cry coming down the hallway closely followed by Grima shouting

"Escape! I have had it with experiments! Sacrifices! Stupid half-witted wizards trying to ruin everything!" at that moment Gandalf stepped from the shadows and smiled at him

"Hello Grima." Grima cursed vehemently

"You!"

"I don't suppose that you could direct me to Saruman?" an expression of fear crossed Grima's face. He was intelligent enough not to ask what would happen if he were to refuse, he pointed

"Down those stairs, the door is barred. The Elf, the Man and the Hobbit are in there with him." Immediately he took off running the other way. Gandalf smiled. It was time.

The Elven army had nearly made it to their destination. The mortal members of the group were exhausted. Gimli could constantly be heard muttering about "short distances" and "wasted" while Faramir and Eowyn walked together in stony silence. It was clear to all who had won the argument about coming on the trip. They neared the tower. Suddenly a mighty bang echoed and the doors fell open. Aikanaro smiled

"Well, that will make our job a little easier later on!" The Elves laughed. Merry pushed forward. Pippin was in there. It might be his only chance to save him. Without thought for the repercussions or the Elven army Merry shot of towards the door. The members of the Fellowship gave a collective groan. They looked at each other for a second then Faramir groaned

"I'll get him." And with that he jogged after Merry who was just clearing the doors to the tower. Aikanaro turned to the remaining group

"Everyone! Get into position! Our battle commences!"

You've probably noticed by now that I give one reviewer a mention at the end of ever chapter, if I haven't got round to you I will by the time this is finished so:

**StarLight9: Hello, nice new reviewer, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I am rather mean aren't I?**

**Everyone else: R and R!!!!!**


	16. Chapter 16

Digs way out of huge pile of books and Revision notes: Look who's back? Sorry about the wait, I'm about to start my Exams, I'm moving house, I've started a new job I've- well, you get the picture. Busy. I'm quite proud of this chapter actually, hope you like

**Disclamer: In my very, very wildest dreams, only there.**

Gandalf rushed trough the corridors with all the speed he could muster. Something told him that his friends were going to be needing his help fairly soon. Down the stairs, he hated stairs. Gimli had teased him that not wanting to take the stairs was his only reason for calling for the Windlords aid. Ahead he saw the door that Grima had indicated. It was locked by magic. Swiftly Gandalf began to try out a number of different spells on the door. He did not have the time for this!

Inside the room Saruman smiled grimly at his captives. He would enjoy making them suffer! Suddenly, a back door banged open and an Orc rushed into the room

"The Elves are moving against us!" even in its cruel eyes, fear was reflected

"Again!?" snapped Saruman angrily "Did you not teach them a lesson last time?"

"Many escaped my Lord."

"Well engage them you fool!"

"How? They are strong my Lord"

While this argument was going on Aragorn slid over to Legolas and Pippin. Legolas was looking frantic

"He means to call forth a spirit of darkness! We must stop him! What can we do?"

Aragorn was shocked to see Legolas looking so despairing "Do not worry my friend, we shall think of a way before all is over. The Elves will help us and our friends are most likely with them."

Legolas shook his head

"You do not understand Aragorn! The only way to call back a spirit is to use immortal, royal blood. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't one of us fulfil that category? A single drop of my blood while I'm alive and you have a dark spirit on your hands!"

The true seriousness of the situation hit Aragorn and Pippin at that moment

"It can't be true!" gasped Pippin, horror struck "How do you know Legolas?"

"I am told some useful things as Prince" said Legolas grimly

Unluckily, at that moment Saruman chose to end his conversation with the Orc

"Get out!" he barked, "Deal with this threat! Use the trolls if you must!" the Orc swiftly complied leaving the three companions alone with a very irritated Saruman. He looked at them

"Are you ready to begin?"

Frodo and Sam looked at each other as Merry and Faramir each passed into Orthanc.

"Should we go help them?" asked Sam, his round face creased with worry, Frodo sighed

"I suppose we must! Pippin is my cousin after all. I swear if he gets me killed…" the two of them took off, but no one noticed as the Elves were swiftly moving into attack formations. The archers were at the back, the pike men at the front the riders on either side and the swords men in the middle. The two Hobbits also passed through the ruined doors. They ran along the passageways seeking Merry. Both of them nearly stopped as they saw an angry looking Gandalf throwing fire at a door but they kept going. Everybody had their own task to fulfil. They were stopped short however as they rounded a corner and ran straight into a large group of Uruks. The looked at each other and drew their little swords. An Orc reached out for Sam and he neatly sliced off its fingers. Enraged the Orcs attacked them. Frodo and Sam wielded their weapons well but they were outnumbered. Slowly they drew back until they were pressed up against a wall. Frodo swiped at the closest Orc but it dived out of his way, only to be stabbed in the heart by Sam, meanwhile, another Orc reached out to pull Sam towards it. It lost its hand due to sting for that. An Orcish blade sliced across Sam's cheek and he punched out at the Orc who had cut him, catching it square in the face as it bent down. Here, the Orcs numbers were an advantage, as they did not work together. If they had attacked separately they would tired the Hobbits, but this way one slash would hit about three Orcs they were so closely packed, and were all desperate to kill the Hobbits themselves. Frodo ducked as a spear came his way but it was a narrow escape and they were both tiring now.

Deep within the tower, unaware that Gandalf was blasting his way through the thick door on the other side Legolas and the others waited for Saruman to put his plans into action. Saruman strolled forward towards Legolas. Aragorn and Pippin quickly moved in front of him but Saruman waved his hands and both of them fell sideways.

"I suppose, noticing that feeble attempt, you and you friends have figured out what is coming?"

He reached down and grabbed Legolas' arm, dragging the Elf to his feet for the second time that day " I have been looking forward to this moment since I formed my plans!" he forced Legolas forwards until the Elf was leaning over the alter. Legolas struggled wildly, but Saruman had a tight hold on his arm. Aragorn tries to pull himself to his feet but he could not move! It felt as if something very heavy was lying across his chest, holding him down. A glance at Pippin told him the Hobbit was suffering the same thing. Grinning madly Saruman produced a long sharp dagger. Runes were carved all around it in a language Legolas could not understand. All thoughts of language flew from his mind though as Saruman lowered the knife towards his throat

Grima ran outside the tower through a back entrance and made straight for the gates. Perhaps this time he could be completely free of Saruman. He could gain his own revenge and settle his own scores. All wizards were mad! He stopped short as he saw a Dwarf standing directly in front of him. The being seemed almost to bristle with anger. They stood there in absolute silence for along while. Grima eventually stepped forward and went to walk around the left of the Dwarf. The Dwarf stepped too and blocked his passage. Grima stepped right but the Dwarf again blocked him.

"Why does he make no move to attack me?" he though, Gimli's silence was making him even more paranoid than if the Dwarf was charging at him. He cleared his throat awkwardly

"Could I get past do you think?" this was humiliating! Gimli grinned

" Oh no, I believe I'm going to leave you here for when the elves return. I imagine they'll be pleased to see you!" without once taking his eyes off Grima, he produced some rope from his pack and tied Grima tightly to the tree "remember, the Elves know this land better than anyone. Escape and they will find you!" then the Dwarf turned and ran back towards where the sounds of battle were just beginning.

Gimli laughed to himself as he ran. Tormenting Wormtongue was so much fun! But his expression stiffened as he moved to where screams were ringing out, both Orcish and human. He drew his axe and ran right into the fray. It was impossible to tell how the battle commenced. He would know he had won when no one was trying to stick a knife in him. He swung his axe in a practice movement and the Orcs surrounding him began to fall to his stunning fighting skills. As soon as that group were gone he moved on to another. He did not see a much larger group of Orcs splitting some people of from the main group.

Nienna, Eowyn and Enelya had no choice but to move along with the large group of Orcs. It was either that or be killed. Better they killed the Orcs and ended up miles from the battle than end up dead next to it! Nienna was keeping Eowyn and Enelya covered with arrows while the other two moved their sword together to cut back the Orcs. They had to be up against at least fifty! Eowyn muttered to herself, she had no idea who these Elves really were except that they were responsible for her being alive. When she'd had to choose anywhere to stand she thought the two of them had looked sensible enough to copy! No so much. The two she had followed had dived headlong into every bit of outnumbered, out positioned danger that they could see. She smirked to herself, this must be what Faramir meant when he said he hated hunting with her! She slashed an Orcs throat and grimaced as the blood sprayed all over her.

Enelya shouted as an Orc nearly managed to decapitate her. She dropped to the ground and rolled, hoping the Orc hadn't given her an unexpected haircut, but before the Orc could follow her she sliced of its feet and jumped up. She grinned as she saw Nienna and Eowyn looking at her as if she was mad. She hadn't _meant _to look dead when that other Orc had hit her in the chest. There was no time to consider however as she ducked another swipe and then stopped an Orc planting its sword in Nienna's back. Eowyn seemed to be doing fairly well with her and Nienna's style of fighting.

Nienna drew another arrow and fitted it to the string. There were so many damn Orcs. Angrily, in a move faster than mortal eyes could follow, she kicked it in the head and simultaneously loosed an arrow. Female Elves might not have the brute strength of the males but they were faster! She gasped as Enelya slid down under an Orc only to glare as she used an old trick of cutting off its feet. Enelya had used that one as long as she had known her and it looked more dangerous every time.

Pippin screamed as Saruman began to press the dagger into Legolas' skin, but at that moment a great bang rang out and there was a float of bright light. Gandalf stood framed in the doorway. He lifted his staff and Saruman was thrown backwards from Legolas. He looked at his friends

"Run!"

**Oh ho, nice little cliffie that eh? "runs and hides"**

Guess what we did? 70 reviews!!!! I got 10 for that last chapter, most ever! Love you all! Keep reading 

**Moonyasha: Your reviews both frighten and amuse me! Glad Sephiroth and the um, others are enjoying it too, **

**Lol, I like nice reviewer person who's reviewed me since chapter 8!**

**Thanks everyone, see ya next chapter!**


	17. Chapter 17

Hi all! Exams finally over! I think I failed a couple, but guess we'll find out in August! I get so sad writing this now coz its ending, ( at least I already have an idea for my next fic and hope to see you all there! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: If it were mine I'd not have to type so fast because I need to give a computer back, but it isn't and I do!**

Aragorn and the others leapt to their feet pending Gandalfs instruction. None of them had any intentions of disobeying for once; they knew that this was not a fight they could help with, especially when they were so weakened. Gandalf strode forward and the other three were making their way to the door, but Saruman was not going to go down without a fight! He pointed his staff at the trio and called out some words from where he lay on the floor

"N'tess Gothamin!" abruptly, Legolas fell forward and hit the ground hard. The Elf groaned and tried desperately to get to his feet, but he was horrified to find that his muscles would not respond to him. Saruman had not merely tripped him, he had paralysed him. He was at whatever mercy Saruman decided to choose for him. Seeing him fall Aragorn and Pippin slowed. Legolas desperately wanted to call to them, to tell them to run but his mouth would not respond to him. He was forced to watch as they began to run back for him. Gandalf looked around from pacing towards Saruman again

"Aragorn! Pippin! Get out of here! I will deal with this!" and expression of pain crossed Aragorn's face. He was clearly torn between doing the clever thing or doing the honourable and stupid thing, but Pippin saw sense. He tugged and Aragorn's hand and the man responded to him. Inwardly, Legolas breathed a sigh of relief as they began to run and they dodged through the door just as Saruman waved his staff again, slamming the door behind them.

Aragorn and Pippin ran as fast as they could through the corridors in a grim parody of the escape attempt that they had made only days ago. However as they got farther away they began to slow. Both had lost much blood and their breathing was becoming strained from how hard they were pushing themselves. As they turned a corner to where a large pile of Orc bodies lay, Aragorn thrust out a hand and the two of them stopped.

"We cannot just rush out there. There is clearly a battle going on, and we are unarmed!"

Pippin was shocked at the stupidity of the thing they had nearly done. The two of them crept slowly up to the dead Orcs, careful in case a live one was hidden among them. Aragorn pulled a sword out of ones hand. It was hard work. It seemed that even in death this particular Orc had not wanted to give up its weapon. Its hands were tightly clutched around the hilt. Pippin stole a pair of short knives from another of the Orcs. For the Uruks, they would have been useless, but they were as good as short swords for the Hobbit. Just as they began to run again, there was the sound of rushing feet and Merry and Faramir appeared around the corner. Merry looked delighted to see his friends, but Faramir's face showed near panic

"We are outnumbered five to one!" he cried out "Where are Mithrandir and Legolas?" they strain was obvious in his voice and Aragorn suspected that he had been working very hard to protect Merry as they looked for them

"They are fighting Saruman, there is nothing we can do!"

"Then we must move! Can you fight?"

"We must." Said Aragorn shortly, and the three of them hurried towards the distant sounds of screaming and swords crashing. The sounds of battle.

Sam and Frodo glowered at the Orcs surrounding them. Both knew that neither of them would give up until the Orcs were defeated or they died. Together, they lifted their leaf blades for what seemed like the thousandth time and charged at the Orcs. Sam expertly swung his sword, but he couldn't help wishing for a pan, he was much more adept with that weapon. He was so enthralled in the fight that he did not see until too late, Frodo crashing down behind with blood rushing from a wound in his chest. A wave of horror washed over him and he stood over his master clutching his little sword. These Orcs would pay!

Nienna and Enelya were now fighting with their swords. They had long since ran out of arrows. There was nothing they could do but try to push through the mass of Orcs gathered around them, but they were making little headway and it was only a matter of time until being crushed by their enemies. Eowyn too was using her sword, tiredly shoving it through the heart of another Orc that tried to spit her. How long had they been fighting? Too long. The fight with the witch king had not lasted this long, she was sure. She had not been this tired. Behind her, even as Elves, Nienna and Enelya were struggling. They needed aid and they needed it fast. Help came, but not in the best form. A little Orc climbed up the wall clutching a dynamite. Eowyn spotted him first, she screamed

"Down! Down! Get out of the way!" she threw herself to the ground and as she fell a blast came that shook the very ground.

Saruman grinned at Gandalf

"I have won, my old friend. There is nothing that you can do now!" he pointed his staff again and Legolas lifted from the ground unable to struggle. Panic started to appear in him as he headed I the direction of the altar, but at that moment Gandalf threw a spell at Saruman and he was dropped to the ground again. The two wizards began to duel, bright lights flashing like fireworks and things exploding everywhere. Legolas was outside of the shields, and released from the spell he began to drag himself away. He lifted a hand to wipe the blood from his mouth and when he put it back down he met thin air. The room was full of dust, but Legolas knew what he had hit. He tried to drag himself backwards, but a single drop of blood fell from his hand, deep, deep into the blackness of the pit around the altar. Suddenly the air cleared, leaving both Saruman and Gandalf staring at him. The Altar began to glow. First it turned white then a thick black shadow began to pour from it. Saruman practically ran forward and lifted his staff.

"Bragol thalion, tinechor, Entula tuulo' i'ba,Yala Morgoth!" the darkness began to grow, Gandalfs face went white

"What have you done!" he screamed at Saruman "You have called forth the essence of Morgoth the destroyer of Middle Earth! Saruman, you fool!" Saruman's eyes widened, he began to laugh, the laugh of a madman

"Morgoth! Yes I will serve him and he will make me as a God! You have lost!"

The darkness grew.

Ok, for anyone who hasn't read the Silmarillion, Morgoth is like the really bad guy, he was Saurons mentor and Sauron was bad enough. Hope that cheered you all, later! 

**n'tess gothamin Hold Person**

**Thankyou to all my special reviewery people, please keep it up! Nine reviews last chapter, excellent! As for my mention…**

**Melwa Elena: Hello, I love your reviews, they are so nice! I'm really glad about that image working for you coz that bit was my writing demon. I didn't wanna do it! It made me! Lol. Keep reading!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello everyone! I'm a happy person to be back! Reviews for last chapter were great! Although still depressed that I only have a few chapters left "sniffles" anyways…**

**Disclaimer: Me: Why can't I have it then? I promise I wont break it!**

**Random Person: It belongs to Mr Tolkein and not you. Deal with it!**

**Me: We hates you, yes we does!**

**Random Person: Yeah well, you still cant have it**

**Me: Darn**

Chapter 18 

Aragorn, the two Hobbits and Faramir dived into the fray outside the doors. It was not looking good for the Elves. Hundreds upon hundreds of Orcs were streaming through them bringing death as they went. A loud explosion rent the air and all of them were deafened. Merry and Pippin, always quickest to recover dived into the fighting with their short swords held aloft. Several Orcs had fallen within seconds of them joining the fight. Merry was strong and well rested, but Pippin's fury towards his captors burned in him brightly and he slashed cleverly with his weapon. Aragorn and Faramir looked at each other for a second, in awe of the hardihood of the Hobbits and then they too charged in. once embroiled in the battle they separated. Faramir began to cleave a passage searching for Eowyn while Aragorn concentrated on eliminating any Orcs and staying on his feet. He knew Arwen would have had a tantrum if she could see the state he was fighting in. Yes, Arwen was something to think about while he fought. Fear for what would happen to her if he lost forced him to raise his sword and deliver more blows while all the while fear for Legolas and Gandalf burned within him.

Gimli waved his axe with practiced efficiency. The Orcs were falling like dominoes around him but always he was searching for his friends. As he charged forward, he caught sight of Merry and Pippin ganging up on an Orc. Gimli almost felt sympathy for the Orc at the look of complete shock and horror that appeared on its face as Merry and Pippin sprang towards it, knives drawn

Doesn't seem like they need my help." Thought Gimli to himself and moved on. He was sure he passed Faramir as well, but the son of Denethor was also making his mark on Saruman's army. Lastly he saw Aragorn. Gladness surged through his heart to see his friend alive, but he could see exhaustion written on Aragorn's face and decided that here was where he could help. Aragorn felt someone flash past him and identified it as Gimli when it produced an axe

"Good to see you too!" he yelled

Gimli managed some kind of complex manoeuvre that involved him turning around to wave at Aragorn while slaughtering three Orcs at once. Shaking his head, Aragorn raised his sword again.

Eowyn hit the ground hard and she could only hope that Enelya and Nienna were following suit. She felt a raging fury build up inside her towards the Orc with the dynamite. If only she could get her hands around its scrawny little neck! She would most definitely make it pay for daring to cross them. The force from behind seemed to have passed away. Gingerly she got to her feet and looked around her. The place was a bombsite. Exploded stone and shrapnel were scattered all over the place and small fires were flaring up everywhere. Luckily for her, most of the Orcs had been taken out by the blast. The suicide Orc had not got clear before the thing exploded. In growing panic, she searched for her two Elven companions. She turned back towards the wall and nearly tripped over a pile of rubble. She heard a faint cry of pain and threw herself down next to it. Desperately she pushed back the rubbish with her hands until she found the bloodstained face of Nienna. The dark haired Elf gazed up at her with pain-glazed eyes.

"Help." She said faintly and Eowyn swiftly uncovered her. She did not need to be a healer to see that the Elf was badly injured, but there was nothing she could do now. They would have to wait until the end together, she stared at Nienna

"Where is Enelya?"

Nienna looked at her and pain that was not physical flashed across her face "She was behind me. I caught a huge amount of the blast, but she got it all, Eowyn!" tears splashed down her cheeks "She is dead! I saw it as I fell!" Eowyn said nothing. She didn't know what to say.

Sam stared in surprise as most of the Orcs surrounding them suddenly fell as the walls crashed around them. The corridor was wide and the Orcs kept most of the blast from Frodo and Sam. Smiling grimly, Sam lifted up his weapon and felled the remaining Orcs. Then, he began to slowly pull Frodo towards the hole in the wall where he saw light. Sensible, he deemed that within the tower was not a safe place to remain and he would be in a much less dangerous position if he was outside, whether there was a battle going on or not. As soon as they emerged, he saw Eowyn crouched next to and Elf, holding her hand. He called to her.

"Eowyn! Help me!" Eowyn turned her head at the sound of his voice and ran to them when she saw Frodo. She lifted him easily and set him down beside Nienna; again, there was nothing she could do to help at the moment. They looked towards the tower together, hoping that their friends would make it out.

Gandalf rushed over to Legolas at the side of the altar and with surprising strength yanked him away. As soon as Legolas was clear, he lifted his staff again and waited for the demon that was arising from the pit. The form emerging from the altar took a shape, blacker than the blackest balrog. Saruman launched himself towards it, but suddenly Legolas, drawing on the last of his strength, and with all of his Elven grace, launched himself at Saruman and kicked the wizard's staff away. With a feral rage, Saruman practically tried to leap over Legolas to get his staff back, but he crashed into the Elf instead and the pair fell to the ground scrapping. As for Gandalf, he turned to the great monster and fired a steady stream of spells at it, but a black tinged shield appeared and the spells rebounded, with Gandalf only just being able to block them. The spirit of Morgoth then produced an immense sword and aimed it at Gandalf who dodged. The battle was getting harder, Gandalf was spending his strength firing spells and Morgoth blocked every one. Legolas and Saruman continued to fight, although it was a torment for Legolas who was still loosing blood, bur he and Saruman were slowly moving away from the staff. However, this was at great expense to the Elf and even as he began to gain some distance, Saruman would begin to win over again. Gandalf ducked another potentially deadly blow, only to have to shift again as line of shadow aimed directly for his heart. A smile marred the face of the terrible creature as Gandalf turned and feigned fleeing only to turn and blast the creature with white fire from his mended staff. Legolas and Saruman were trying desperately now to remain out of the way and still not allow either of them to gain the upper hand. It was a fight to save the world, and it was unsure who would win.

Heh heh, I'm not even sure who's gonna win, lol. My writing demon takes things very seriously and he wont let someone who should loose win. So, our hero's better think fast, lol.

**Mentiony:**

**Brezo-1816: Don't tell the writing demon that! He likes misery! I'll try and control his evil though because I happen to prefer Legolas alive as well! Keep Reading!**

**As for the rest of you: Pretty please review :) I am so happy when I get them and they make me update faster! Until next time, cya!**


	19. Chapter 19

Hello! Missed you all! Well, back now and my reviews were all brilliant as usual, thanks so much for taking the time to write them! On a completely unrelated topic, did anyone else go to the midnight Harry Potter opening? It was fun. We ended up in the paper (oh the shame). 

Disclaimer: You know those things that you like to dream of but they never happen? Owning LOTR is one of those things!

Chapter 19 

Legolas and Saruman were struggling together on the floor, but Legolas was beginning to loose ground rapidly. Saruman was stronger than him and Legolas was still bleeding. Even with his limited healing knowledge Legolas knew enough to marvel at still being conscious. He rolled away from Saruman seeking to get to the wall and avoid the damage that Morgoth and Gandalf were causing between them. He was annoyed that Saruman followed him, keeping close enough behind him to see where he was going amongst all the dust. The Elf, felt his death coming dangerously close as slowly, his life essence flowed from all his wounds. A deep regret stole over him that he would never say farewell to Aragorn or his Ada. Still, at that moment of acceptance he felt some hidden strength come up from within him and push him onwards. Every part of his body ached and screamed at him yet he turned around and kicked out at Saruman's face, breaking the Wizards nose and distracting him for a bit. He threw himself to the ground as a particularly strong surge of light came from Gandalfs direction.

Morgoth's spirit was currently shielding against Gandalf who was pouring all his energy into keeping going. He knew now that as he was, he could not win this fight. If he kept on going like this eventually his strength would wane and he would be defeated. All Morgoth had to do was keep shielding until Gandalf exhausted himself. He needed something to defeat Morgoth where strength and magic alone would not prevail. Desperately the wizard ran through what he knew. Saruman who was using the blood of Legolas had summoned Morgoth. Therefore, Morgoth had to have something of both Legolas and Saruman in him. Perhaps if he used the energy from one of them he would sufficiently be able to best Morgoth at his own strengths. Guilt flooded Gandalfs heart as he looked at Legolas now trying only to move away from Saruman as he grew paler and paler, leaving a sticky trail of scarlet blood behind him. "No!" thought Gandalf, he would not use Legolas. Not unless there was no other choice and all the peoples and lands of Middle-Earth would be destroyed if he did not. Determinedly, he ceased his attack and lunged towards Saruman even as Morgoth sent a beam of fire towards where the Wizard had been only moments before. What he was about to do (even to Saruman) disgusted him, but it had to be done.

With Morgoth's powers unchecked, the walls of the room began to show cracks and the floor began to shake. If he had not ducked and covered his head to avoid being impaled on something, Legolas would have called out to Gandalf. For a single moment Legolas wandered if the Wizard had taken leave of his senses with the way he was now running towards Saruman with his hand outstretched, but the glimpse the Elf had had of Saruman's face told the Elf otherwise as the traitor looked at Gandalf in horror and started to speed away from him

"You wouldn't Gandalf!" Saruman positively shrieked, "It goes against everything…"

"I would Saruman! You brought this evil upon us and you shall pay for what you have done!"

Saruman looked over at Legolas and a hopeful look came over his face

"What if you need the Elf? Would you kill him too?"

"Be silent Saruman! It is too late to save yourself." And before Saruman could say anything else, Gandalf placed his hand upon the other Wizards forehead and whispered a word that no one else could hear. Saruman gave a terrible scream that sounded as if it had been ripped from every fiber of his being and suddenly crumpled to the floor, his eyes glassy and unseeing. Morgoth, who had been moving ever closer this entire time, paused in his movement. Gandalf turned back to his foe and raised his hand to face Morgoth, again repeating the dark spell that he had used against Saruman. A red light tinged with black flashed from his hand and for a moment all was darkness.

Aragorn fought alongside his friends, old and new, but things were not going in their favor. There were too many Orcs. Many people had fallen to the ground and had not risen, and now, a small group of the survivors held a tight circle around the wounded whom they had managed to bring to them. There were many lying among the wounded. The dead had been left. It had seared all their hearts to abandon them, but there was nothing more to be done. Nienna and Eowyn lay with the wounded, and Frodo with the blood only now starting to clot, Aikanaro lay unmoving where he had been laid with three arrows in his chest and many more were there- young Elves still in the springtime of their years, some of the firstborn who had planned to leave soon. They would never see the harbor beyond the white tower now, for many of them were dying with no one beside them to hear their last words. Aragorn should have been with the wounded, but he was refusing to put down his sword even though his face was waxy and in the few breaks from fighting everyone was trying to persuade him to leave. Gimli too was still fighting. Great gashes covered his face and there were dents in his armor but he fought alongside Merry, Pippin and Sam who were solidly holding their ground and looking decidedly better than many of those standing around them. Faramir was next to Aragorn, looking fearful to leave his side lest the man should collapse. The Gondorian had no idea how Aragorn was doing it. He was certain he himself would have been writhing in pain on the ground if he had been in the state his companion was in. in truth, Faramir felt as if his insides were burning up with fear. Not for himself, but all of his friends. And Eowyn. Especially Eowyn. She could be dying in this circle and he could not go to her. Also, Legolas and Gandalf had still not appeared and there was no way of telling whether they wee alive or dead. There was nothing left to do but survive.

Gandalf slowly got to his feet again after performing the deadly spell only to see a slightly diminished shadow of Morgoth arise again. His strength was nearly spent and there was nothing he could do. He sat back against the wall and looked Morgoth in the eye seeing his death coming towards him as he had not seen it since that moment alone save for Pippin on the towers of Minas Tirith. Legolas stared at the Wizard, his mind working quickly. Saruman's power had weakened Morgoth, but only half destroyed him but he himself had contributed to the re-birth of the demon. So if he and Saruman were both gone…a calm settled on him. This was the only thing that it was possible to do now. He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the wave of sickness that engulfed him and began to walk towards the alter where the dagger of Saruman lay abandoned. He used Morgoth and Gandalfs preoccupation with each other to ensure that no one stopped him. He reached the alter and leant on it heavily while the world spun before his eyes. As soon as he could he grabbed the dagger. He held it to his chest and there was a moment where time seemed to pause, then he plunged the dagger deep into his chest.

Ahhhh!!! Leggy! -goes after writing demon with pointy stick- They're gonna kill me for that! –glances at horde of angry reviewers- Gulp! Ok he may not be dead, you should all just be very nice to the writing demon (that includes not slaughtering me) and he might live

**Moving swiftly on, thanks again for all last chappies reviews and hope you re-review!**

**Mentiony:**

**The Randomer: Glad that my fic invokes such a reaction in you, lol. And how's that for a cliffie mwuhaha!**

**Cya next chapter!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi Guys! Thats me finally back! Sorry this chapter took so long, its wasn't an easy one to write and there's been loads going on with the return to school and everything (I was having so much fun being on holiday) Anyway, I'm hoping that the quality of this chapter is a little better as I spent a wee bit of time on it, Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If only...**

Everything paused.

As is in slow motion Legolas dropped his hand from the dagger hilt and stared at the blood staining it as if he could not believe it came from his own body. For a moment he simply looked at it. In the blood he saw images of his past swirling past his eyes. He was not ready to leave Middle Earth but there was nothing he could do to stop the blackness that seeped over him like a blanket smothering the pain. Then, slowly he dropped to his knees before collapsing unmoving to the floor, his blood making a sticky pool around him, streaking the long blonde hair that covered his face.

Gandalf turned when Morgoth stopped coming towards him. He had been preparing for the final srike that was to destroy both himself and the spirit when Morgoth had paused as if something was troubling the dark spirit. Instinctively Gandalf looked over towards Legolas. His heart leapt up into his throat. Legolas stood still and unmoving, gazing at his hand as if nothing else in the world mattered, then, to his horror Gandalf noticed the deep red stain spreading over the Elf's clothes. He watched Legolas fall to the ground and was at his side in an instant, regadless of the danger he was still in. However Morgoth did not follow him. The spirit swayed unmoving in the air and simlilarly to Legolas, it suddenly clutched at its chest and and a terrible scream was rent from it, like metal scraping upon metal. This terrible noise went on and on until Gandalf could feel it inside his head as it it were his own. He was certain Legolas would die. The Elf had already been injured and then the dagger had almost definately hit an organ of some kind. Morgoths cries went on. The creature did not wish to return to where it had came from. Tears glistened in the corners of Gandalfs eyes. He could have aided Legolas a little if he had not been so weak. Morgoth began to move around the room. Shrapnel flew through the air and started to destroy the room. Legolas, Thranduils only son, the prince of Mirkwood, loyal member of the Fellowship of the ring and friend of the Dwarves was fading fast. A final scream errupted from Morgoth, so terrible that it made the hairs on the wizards neck stand up and he looked around for the first time. He was only just in time to see the sprit of Morgoth disappear into the alter, almost as if swallowed by is own blackness.

Aragorn and the others stood alone facing the great onslaught of the Orcs. The numbers of Orcs had decreased greatly due to the combined efforts of the entire group, but it wasnt enough. The simple truth was that all the assembled were going to die today unless some form of miracle occured and this did not look entirely likely at the moment . The orcs were grouped a short way away and they were obviously making plans of some sort but there was no way of escaping as they were being watched very closely by the Orcs. Suddenly, a decision seemed to have been reached and the Orcs encircled them holding tightly to their weapons. Those who could still stand joined the main group and a protective circle was formed around the injured. Gimli groaned when he saw how few of them could actually fight. This was going to be a bloodbath.

The Orcs began to adavnce upon them. Their ugly faces seething with malice against the Elves and the Elf friends who had attacked them. They would make the enemy pay for for they had done to their masters work. Aragorn slowly drew his sword and prepared for the last stand.

"How many last battles have we faced together?" he asked Gimli "so many now it seems."

Gimli made no response save to nod his head and lift his axe ready for thed first stroke. The creatures were coming closer. Faramir and Eowyn stood together, prepared for whatever was to come for nothing could come between them, three of the four Hobbits stood together, ready once more to die defending Frodo. Still the Orcs came closer. Now thier harsh voices could be heard above everything else, shouting taunts and insults to the Elves who merely drew their bows and trained them on the Orcs. The end was near.

Suddenly, the Orcs stopped. Something new seemed to have distracted them. All of a sudden they were no longer coming towards the group. Many were breaking away. Whole groups were disbanding from the main body and making of towards the river. The ones that remained gazed around in utter confusion as though some spell had been broken over them. They ran around in great confusion and panic while the small group of survivors gazed on in perplexity. But, at that moment the three Hobbits charged after the fleeing Orcs, just as they had done at the Last Battle and then the rest of the army followed. Sarumans hold over them had been broken. They were no longer willing to band together and allow great numbers of themselves to be killed. Desperately they fled, searching for holes and caves in which to hide as the Elves picked them off one by one. However, within a short time, Merry, Pippin and Sam returned to the battlefield where the rest of the new Fellowship remained. For a dark fear had fallen over their hearts and they began to wander what had become of their missing companions. As a group they turned and simply ran towards the insideof Orthanc and whatever horrors lay inside it away from their sight. Aragorn in particular felt a great fear for the safety of Legolas. The Elf had been so gravel wounded when he had been forced to leave him alone. Aragorn would never forgive himself if Legolas died. They had been friends for so many long years.

Gandalf held on tightly to Legolas' hand although it was slickly covered with dirt and blood. He knew there was nothing he could do for Legolas in this terrible weakness that was consuming him save to be there with him. He did not turn around as he heard the door bang open and the sounds of many running feet coming towards the two.

Aragorn felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the sight that greeted them when they entered the room. Ganadlf sat next to Legolas, clutching tightly to the Elf's hand, silvery tears falling down his old face. But it was for Legolas alone that Aragorn had eyes for. The Wood-Elf lay in a growing pool of blood, his fair face white as death, with a dagger protuding from his chest. With a terrible cry of fear Aragron launched himself across the room and fell on his kness next to Legolas. He held his friends face in his hands and spoke to him desperately, his broad shoulders shaking with a grief he could not express

"Legolas! Legolas! Damn you, answer me! Hold on!" he shook the wood Elf's shoulders in desperation "Don't you dare leave me! Do not leave me alone." The last was spoken in a quiet whisper "I need you."

Faramir placed a hand to Aragorns shoulder and began to speak slowly and urgently "Aragorn, does he yet live?" Aragorn nodded dully, it seemed to him to late to do anything "Aragorn, we can stabalize him long enough to carry him back to the woods then the Elven healers can aid him. But I need your help. We need to stop the bleeding." Hope seemed to sparkle in Aragorns eyes for a moment, upon hearing the familiar healers words.

"Find me a medical kit immediately!" he called to the others, who immediately spread out to complete his bidding. He bent low and whispered in Legolas' pointed ear "If you hold on long enough we can save you, but you must try. For me."

Soon, Gimli returned holding onto a medical pack, his fingers were shaking with grief and fear as he handed it over to Aragorn who immediately set to work. As if to make it easier he spoke aloud as he worked, althoug to whom he did not know

"I think that for now, it would be safer to leave the dagger in as we only have a limited amount of bandages and the bleeding will only get worse once we remove it." He bandaged around the knife to slow the blood that was leaking out. "However, it will be helpful if I can patch up the rest of him so he will not suffer to great a loss of blood along the way." He gestured to Faramir to aid him in this as the other man seemed the most clear headed at the moment. Faramir began to deal with the smaller wounds all over the Elf's body while Aragorn bandaged over the old arrow wound. This wound had become infected but there was little he could do here, save to place some athelas over the wound and then bandage it to stop that particular bloodflow. Aragorn gazed in disgust at the Elf's still mutilated and bloody hand before moving on. Again, here would not be a sensible place to try and set the hand again, if indeed it was going to be possible. Gimli could not even look anymore, the state of Legolas' hand seemed to have shocked him even more than the dagger protuding from his friends chest.

Eventually, the deed was done and they were able to bring in one of the many stretchers to carry Legolas back to the forest. Everyone was at least slightly injured. After their ordeals, Pippin and Aragorn too had to allow themselves to use a stretcher as after everything else, they too were badly injured and suffering. It had taken a great feat for the two of them to force themselves into the battle. There were many people returning home on stretchers this fight. Frodo and Nienna were among this group as well. Finally, the greatly numbered dead had to be taken back home. Enelya was to return to the forest where she would finally be at peace after the loss of Taurnil. Larien too, their new friend lay amony the dying. It would be unlikely that she would rise again with four arrows in her.

As they re-entered the forest cries of horror were heard from those that remained. The healers swarmed towards them and herded them towards the places they had prepared for the wounded. Some Elves who were not trained for healing were set to deal with the dead and lay them in a long line until the time came for a proper funeral to be given for them. Because for now it was the living that caused the greatest concern. Gimli wandered slowly among all the horrors. The long lines of dead that had only a few days ago walked and sang through the woods, the terrible screams of pain that came from the healers, Elves with blood puring from injuries but who were not serious enough to be seen yet as there were not enough healers, Aragorn trying desperately to escape the restraining healers hands and go to Legolas' side. Sam, crouched next to Frodo as the little Hobbit was being healed and Merry doing the same by Pippins side, tears pouring down his face. But there was only one place Gimli wished to go. He was looking for Legolas. He could not bring himself to search through those that had already passed since returning to the woods, but he searched the beds with a kind of desperation that could not be abated by anyone who wished to stop him and speak to him. He wandered onwards as if in a daze. He knew where Gandalf lay, the wizard only needed to regain his strength.

Eventually, Gimli found Legolas. He was slightly seperate from the others and a large amount of the healers ran to and fro around him. He needed a lot of help, but Gimli was relieved to find that he was not dead as yet. However, he ws not allowed to see him yet and he decided to return and try and help the healers make sure Aragorn did not escape them before he was ready. He walked up to the man and spoke to him

"he yet lives Aragorn, but it will do you and him no good ifyou go running towards him. The healers are working with him as we speak. Do you truly think you could aid him in this state?"

Aragorn seemed to accept defeat for the moment and allowed the healer who was trying to tend him to return to stitching his side. "Gimli, I could not bear it if any of us died, but Legolas has been my friend for so many years. He is like my brother." The man said this tiredly, his allowing himself to relax had let all his exhaustion return to him and his eyes closed.

The healer breathed a sigh of relief "Thankyou, friend Dwarf. I had thought that I was never going to be able to finish tending to this man. He was determined to leave." Gimli gave the healer a short smile and moved on again. It was true, war was not glorious or heroic. It was simply people dying that did not deserve to die. It was the desruction of lives and nothing more.

**See, he's not dead yet! I'm doing whatever I can to save him, but its difficult with the writing demon thwarting my every move (it's asleep now as it doesn't like chapters where things seem to be working out)**

**For my mentiony:**

**Leggy Rules: Oh yes Legolas! Hey, this is a really good way to make sure people come back next chapter, it happened when I hurt Aragorn too...**

**Anyway, R and R people!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Whats this? An update thats actually on time? It must be magic. Seriously though, I am so glad I finally managed to get an update done properly. I love having a decent, working laptop that is actually in my house! I bet you lot do as well! Ducks assortment of sharp objects thrown by still grumpy reviewers Well this should cheer you up, I'm actually planning to put up the last one or two chapters ON TIME! That's clearly a new thing for me...**

**Anyway, I'm starting to feel sad as I only have one of two chapters left before this, my first ever fanfic, is finished.**

**Ah well, in the words of The Randomer: "But what a ride its been!"**

**I had to bribe Legolas into coming out from under the bed for this chapter, he didn't want to have any more to do with it for some unknown reason P**

**Enjoy! **

**Chapter 21**

It was raining in the forest of Fangorn. Great grey droplets that plunged downwards, seeming to find every gap in the leaves so that even those who had thought they were under shelter found themselves drenched within a short time.

A perfect reflection of his grey mood, thought Sam to himself. It was a dark day for all and many tears would be shed. The return from the battle had nearly swamped the healers but it had been a few days and now those who would live and those who were to die were marked. Some were still in the middle. These few were the ones that had the healers toiling constantly, trying to withdraw them for the brink and give them their lives. Legolas was one of these. They had spent almost an entire night trying to help him and now he lay in a bed, pale as death.

The Fellowship were gathered at Legolas' bedside lost in their own thoughts. Each was full of a fear for their friend and most of them for each other at the moment. Sam and Merry were relatively unharmed although Sam sported several long scratches across his face while Merry had a spectacular black eye. Eowyn's whole body was covered in tiny cuts and bruises from the explosion and she still bore the scar from the knife she had taken to the stomach. Faramir sat next to Eowyn clutching her hand, he had not been harmed much in the battle but he still showed all the signs of his time in Sarumans clutches including the vivid whip marks across his back which were currently hidden from view by his shirt. Frodo's side was so swaddled in bandages it was a wander the Hobbit was able to walk about, but apart from the paleness of his face and the shadows under his eyes he seemed to be on the mend. Gimli was also in not to bad a condition aside from a steadily healing broken rib that he had valiantly ignored through the entire battle and the retreat until a healer had nearly physically forced him to submit to an examination. Pippin was not even present at the moment as he had not been able to persuade his healers to release him. The young Hobbit had frightened his friends terribly when they had seen him. He had had to be carried back to the forest and had needed intense care for the next few days. Gandalf too had scared them all, but he at least seemed to bear few physical wounds although he had slept through the next two days and still looked exhausted. Aragorn still looked awful. If he had not used his rank against the Elves watching him he would still be under their care. All over his body bandages and brusing could be seen and he groaned every time he tried to move. He had refused to remain away from Legolas any longer however.

Legolas himself lay still, his blonde hair splayed around him on the pillow. It had been mere hours ago that the healers had left him. The dagger had miraculously missed hitting any vital organs but the wound had bitten deep and on top of everything else it had nearly proved fatal. Indeed, there was still no certainty about whether he would ever wake up or not. Sam had almost cried when he had first arrived in the room as the Elf's face appeared to be more bruising than anything else, it was literally black and blue and much of it was swollen painfully. The Elf's hand was also causing them much sadness and discomfort. It could hardly be called a hand at the moment, considering the healers had needed to re-break nearly all the bones and set them properly. Legolas had lost so much blood that all his skin that was not bruised carried a faint bluish tinge anyway.

Aragorn shivered, he needed his friend to survive. It would have destroyed him inside had his best friend died in that tower and now it still hurt knowing that Legolas was still not safe. They had been told that if the Elf did not awaken by the end of the day then it was almost certain that he would never return to them. The Ranger was unmoving in his decision that he would be at the bedside when Legolas awoke. He had ignored anyone who had been trying to persuade him to stay and rest until he was fully mobile. He had threatened to crawl to where Legolas lay had he not been allowed.

The memories were heavy on all of them. It was difficult to look back without sobbing aloud for several of the Hobbts. Merry still remembered as if it had been only minutes ago, walking alongside the two stretchers bearing Frodo and Pippin. Neither of his friends had stirred the entire trip and he had felt terrible inside. Pippin had always been there for him, even in the depths of the Orc camps, Pippin had been there. He startled all by breaking the silence and asking a question

"How did Morgoth die yet Legolas did not" it had been grating at him since he had found that nearly everyone was well

Gandalf looked up from his thoughts and replied to the Hobbit "I cannot say I know for sure Merry." He said kindly "But I have a hunch what happened, and as a Wizard, my hunches are normally fairly good. I belive that when Saruman was killed, Morgoth was considerably weakened because Saruman was one of two whom had brought him into Arda. The beings that brought him there were linked to his survival. Now, the thing that appeared under the tower was not Morgoth but merely an essence of him and therefore not as powerful as the real, or fully generated Morgoth would have been. If the real Morgoth had appeared in that room we would all be dead. However, what did appear was – even weakened- too strong for me although I was wearing him down a little. When Legolas used the dagger upon himself Morgoth must have been severly weakened already from Saruman's death and from what I had been doing in the offensive. Legolas' sacrifice weakened him so much that it only took a severe depletion of Legolas' strength to finally destroy him, not Legolas' actual death."

Merry and Sam blinked at Gandalf and then nodded slowly as if they understood

Gandalf sighed "Morgoth was already weak from Sarumans destruction and my attack so it did not take Legolas to actually die to destroy him."

The Hobbits looked slightly happier with this explanation of events and turned back to Legolas.

Suddenly,a soft groan came from Legolas. Immediately everyone was alert. The Elf eyes began to flutter slightly as he struggled to bring himself to full consciousness. Aragorn was swiftly at his side and he put his hand behind Legolas's head and bent over to speak to him softly in Elvish. The Elf's breathing became more rapid as he was clearly trying to understand what was going on and why he was in so much pain.

Startling the others he suddenly pushed upwards catching Aragorn unawares. The man stumbled away slightly and Legolas, seemingly oblivious to all the pain he was in looked around with terrified blue eyes. He spotted Gandalf and began babbling a torrent of Elvish at the Wizard who looked confused for a moment and then comprehension dawned on his face. He rose to his feet and put a restraining hand on the Elf's shoulder

"The danger has passed Legolas. Lle tyava quel?"

The panic in the Elf's eyes diminished slightly but they were still filled with pain and fear "Mani marte?" he asked hoarsly

"We won! Morgoth and Saruman were destroyed. Kaima tenna' tul're mellon nin."

Great relief shone through the Elf's pain at those words and with that he allowed the Wizards strong hand to push him back down into the soft bed, but he was too weak to even try to stop the gasp of pain that came from his lips as the full agony began to tear at him.

As soon as Legolas had shown himself to have calmed and not be in a completely unbearable amount of pain, Aragorn had rushed to get one of the healers. He returned with one fairly quickly and the healer immediately bent over the once again still Elf and begin checking him over

"He should not have sat up so soon." Muttered the healer who had heard tales of the stubborness of Thranduils son "He could have done himself more damage!"

Aragorn smiled, remembering times past "You are lucky he did not try to stand up,I believe he would have if he had been more coherant."

The healer simply sighed and after making sure that Legolas was not in any immediate danger left again calling back that the Prince of Mirkwood should re-awaken sometime the following day.

Great joy filled the hearts of the others. It seemed that Legolas had a chance now! Aragorn especially looked as if half the strain from his woundshad disappeared although of course i had not. As they all smiled at each other each felt a warmth in their hearts that perhaps their Fellowship would be properly re-united after all. It was a sign that the stain that had been left on Middle Earth from the War of the Ring was finally being cleared.

Sam gazed up at the little he could see of the sky. The clouds were clearing and the rain would soon stop.

**Phew! What a heavy chapter to write, that was not easy. I hope you liked it, if you did; Review, if you didn't; Review! I know there are Lurkers out there, let me know if you are reading it! It really does make me update on time!**

**Translations:**

**Lle tyava quel? Are you well?**

**Mani marte? What happened?**

**Kaima ****tenna' tul're mellon nin ****(I hope it means) sleep until tommorow my friend**

**My Mention is for:**

**Sam: Hello there, nice to see you're enjoying it! As you've probably guessed I really do have to save Legolas, I (and many others) would be very upset if he was dead!**


	22. Chapter 22

**And here it is folks, this is it, the final chapter! It all ends here. As I've said many a time, its my first ever fanfic and now its over! I was so sad writing this chapter, I didn't even know this would be the last one until I started writing it. Strange how these things write themselves...**

**Anyway, Enjoy the last ever Chapter sniffles**

**Chapter 22**

It had been many days now since the catastrophe of the Tower of Orthanc and many wounds were beginning to heal. The mental ones along with the physical scars. However, many people bore wounds that would never fully heal. Loss was one of the worst of these. It tore at the heart like a vulture and left you alone with nothing else to cling to but memories. It was a time of rememberance for all and everyone was ready to say goodbye. There was nothing else to do, save to move on, but some found this difficult and they tried so hard to let go, but within clung onto the hurt because it semeed to them like the only way to ensure that the lost ones were never forgotten

Nienna was one of those deeply affected by this. Her physical wounds caused by the explosion had healed fast, but inside, the sadness in her heart was like an ache. She had lost her best friend, and many more friends besides. Enelya had died, crushed by that terrible explosion that the Orcs had unleashed under Sarumans command. She wished she could return and show the Wizard what she thought of him. But it was too late now, he was gone. Death seemed to sweet for him. She sighed to herself. Anger would not heal the hurt. Nor would crying every tear she had within her and more. Only time could help.

The Elf sat alone on a bench under the tree's, listening to the sounds of the birds and the little rivers. She was so lost in her thoughts that she never even turned her head when Eowyn appeared beside her on the bench.

"It still pains you doesn't it?" said Eowyn softly, leaving the Elf beside her the opportunity to say nothing

Nienna turned "It does, sometimes I wander if the sorrow will ever leave me. Enelya was my best friend for many years, since we were Elfings in fact. And now, she is gone."

"It will fade with time. It never leaves, but you will learn to live with it. I should know. I lost so many in the War of the Ring"

Nienna nodded slowly "I know, its just so hard to know that I will never see her again. Never is a long time. I will never see her in the havens..." her eyes were filled with tears and she turned her head so that Eowyn would not see "I will sail without her." That loosed the Elf's sadness and finally the tears poured forth.

Eowyn hugged Nienna hard and the two of them sat there for a long time. Sometimes it helped to cry.

Aragorn walked briskly through the forest. It had not been very long since Legolas had been allowed to leave his bed, with strict instructions "Not to Tire Himself" instructions which Aragorn was well aware that the stubborn Elf would break as soon as he was unwatched by others. It came as no surprise to him that he had been unable to find his friend for the better part of two hours and was wandering around a forest hoping to simply find the Elf by accident. Inwardly he cursed Legolas being a Wood Elf

He was also absolutely certain what the Elf was doing. He would be making sure that he still had his old ability with his weapons. Aragorn would murder him however if he discovered Legolas attempting to use his bow with his hand in the state it was in. It could cause more damage to the fingers.

Yet, he could not truly blame Legolas for doing it as he was well aware that he himself would do precisely the same in similar circumstances, indeed, he had been known to. But, he was not going to sit ny while Legolas injured himself further through sheer obstinateness. He continued along his chosen path (if it could truly be called a path) hoping to catch a glimpse of Legolas.

Half an hour later when Aragorn had just been about to give up, he found Legolas. The Elf stood inside a small clearing that would have been virtually invisible from the outside to any not trained in tracking. He was holding onto his bow and was just beginning to draw an arrow. Aragorn nearly dived in to stop him, but checked himself when he saw several more arrows already embedded in a tree trunk not too far from where Legolas was standing. The tree had a large knot in it that Legolas was supposedly aiming for, but although all the arrows were very close to the centre, none had actually hit it.

Aragorn was pleased to see that Legolas was at least using his good hand to draw the bowstring, thus relieving some of the tension on his hand. He was hopeful to see that his friend had at leat that much sense.

Legolas drew back the arrow and concentrated hard. He needed to hit it! He could not be an archer if he could not hit a simple target. He focused his attention and pulled the bow string. Suddenly he loosed the arrow. It hit the slim tree once more, but slightly above the target. Legolas groaned and leant back on a tree, pain stood out clearly on his face and he allowed the bow to fall to the ground fixing it with an expression of disgust as though it had conspired against him so that he would miss. Aragorn deemed this a moment where he should reveal himself. He stepped out from behind the tree he had watched behind.

"You cannot expect to be able to go back to your old skill imediately, mellon nin. You are still healing!"

Legolas turned round startled "Aragorn! How did you find me?"

Aragorn grimaced "Which much difficulty, do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Wood Elf in a forest?"

"I can imagine." Legolas looked irritated at having been interrupted, but Aragorn was not to be put off so easily

"You know when they said "Do not exert yourself" I do not think that they meant "Go and push your newly healed injuries by firing arrows at an inocent tree!"

Legolas sighed "It is not so easy to wait Aragorn. My hand _must _heal! I am an _archer_! I need to be able to shoot." He stalked up to the trees and began to pull out the arrows embedded within it with his good hand. "I can only pray that what Saruman did to me in his tower is reversible. Without the use of my hand I cannot fight and I cannot shoot. That is what I have been trained for Aragorn! Without it I am nothing!"

Concern for his friend flitted over Aragorns face, this was the first time Legolas had spoken openly about their period of captivity. It would be so hard for the Elf to accept that he might loose his ability to shoot, even Gimli could see that.

"It is not your fault Legolas. Like I said, you must give it time or your injuries will never heal themselves.if you want to get yourself into trouble like that and live then this is an effect that you must accept."

A smile flickered on the edges of Legolas mouth for a moment at Aragorns words, but then determination filled them "Spar with me Aragorn!"

"No!" Aragorn was shocked not only by the request, but by the desperation that had entered his friends words and eyes "I cannot endanger you like that! Legolas, stop being a fool. I do not wish to loose you up again!"

The man had allowed some anger to enter his tone now. The anguish that had peirced his heart when he had seen Legolas lying on the ground in Orthanc had been to much for him and feared that any harm should come to his friend now that he was finally safe and at least walking around again. But the healing could be so easily reversed in one moment of carelessness. It was hard for both he and the Elf to accept, but it had to be done.

At Aragorns words, Legolas felt saddened. He knew the pain he had put his friend through already and was determined not to cause him any more. "I am sorry Aragorn." He said, his fair voice full of distress "I did not mean it so!"

Aragorn was at his friends side in an instant. He smiled at the Elf warmly, a gesture which the other returned (clearly glad that Aragorn was not going to give him any further trouble about trying to practice) and the two of them left the clearing together to return to the others for the evening meal. The rest of the Fellowship were waiting for them to join them and doubtless, the Hobbits were having trouble concealing their wish to eat everything before the last members arrived.

The members of the Fellowship sat around a beautifully carved wooden table eating and drinking with old and new friends. The celebratory banquet had been delicious and everyone had eaten much. There was much to celebrate, for a great evil had been vanquished from Middle Earth and soon all would return to their homes, far away from terror and fighting. The Elves would continue to root out the remaining Orcs, but this posed little problems for them as they were expert trackers and the Orcs were divided and leaderless. They were probably only concentration upon finding the deepest darkest hole possible.

However, there was much to mourn as well. Many Elves had fallen, Elves who should have had many ages to live and scars had ben left on souls that would be there forever. The Elves would be mourned and remembered and their names would never be forgotten. This was one of the curses of immortality.

Not wanting to add anything to these Elves suffering, everyone had kept silent over the things that Saruman had told them deep in his dungeons. Very few of them even believed what the old Wizard had told them about immortality, but it was in the past and they would likely never know. They had only to decide.

The Fellowship were to travel home in a few days. All would go with Aragorn, Faramir and Eowyn and stop at Gondor for a short while before going their seperate ways. Legolas would return to Mirkwood and explain to his Father exactly what he had done this time, Gimli to his Father and his people, and Gandalf would do as he always did. He would disappear to involve himself in great deeds, but always he would return at need for his friends.

The Hobbits in particular felt their love of the Shire calling them home. It had been too long since they had seen their little Hobbit holes and their families. Sam missed his wife and baby. Well almost all the Hobbits felt the need to return. Frodo had been silent throughout most of the meal. Sam turned to him and spoke

"What do you reckon we shall do next Mr Frodo? Do you think our time of making it into the great tales has passed?"

"I think I shall sail for the havens Sam" repled Frodo softly and sadly "I feel the longing in my heart to leave as I must. I was granted the gift to sale for a reason and I think I will soon obey the call of the sea."

At this Sam was deeply moved and set about trying to convince Frodo to stay, but Frodo smiled at him, a smile that was markedly different from the smile of all those years ago when they had first set out of Bag-End with no knowledge of what lay before them and said

"Do not fear, my dear Sam. Everything will come out alright."

**All over now! On behalf of myself, my writing demon, my plot bunny, several random Orcs and Elves that I created and all my friends that I forced to help me no matter if they wanted to or not- Thankyou for reading this!**

**I enjoyed writing this immensly and I hope to see you all again on my future fanfics (check back in December!)**

**For the last time: R and R!!! Cya around!!!**


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